Next outbreak? Scientists alarmed over deadliness of new COVID-19 variant

Scientists at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday again warned of a new, highly mutated lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19, ringing alarms of what potentially can be a deadlier version of the dreaded virus.

The CDC identified the new lineage by the name BA.2.86 on the messaging platform X, saying: “As we learn more about BA.2.86, CDC’s advice on protecting yourself from COVID-19 remains the same.”

The scientists added that the lineage has been detected in the US, Denmark and Israel, Khaleej Times reported.

According to a post on X by the World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier on Thursday, the organisation had classified BA.2.86 as a “variant under monitoring” due to the large number of mutations it carries.

Additionally, the WHO said that, so far, only a few sequences of the variant have been reported from a handful of countries.

Dr S Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist, explained that the new lineage, which has 36 mutations from the currently dominant XXB.1.5 COVID-19 variant, “harkens back to an earlier branch” of the virus.

It is yet to be known whether BB.2.86 will be able to outcompete other virus strains or have any benefit in evading immune responses from earlier infections or vaccinations, he claimed.

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According to preliminary research, the new version “will have equal or greater escape than XXB.1.5 from antibodies elicited by pre-Omicron and first-generation Omicron variants,” according to a PowerPoint presentation issued on Thursday by Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutch Cancer Centre.

The strain that will be protected against in subsequent COVID-19 booster doses is the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.

The most plausible scenario, according to Bloom’s slides, is that BA.2.86 never spreads widely because it is less contagious than the current dominant variations. However, more sequencing data are required to confirm this.

The Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is the strain targeted by vaccines in upcoming Covid booster shots.

“My biggest concern would be that it could cause a bigger spike in cases than what we have seen in recent waves,” Dr Long said. “The boosters will still help you fight off COVID-19 in general.”