The World Health Organization and US health authorities announced Friday that they are closely monitoring a new variant of the Covid-19 virus, although “the potential impact of the numerous BA.2.86 mutations is unknown at this time.”
The WHO has decided to classify a new variant “in the category of variants under surveillance due to the very high number (more than 30) of mutations of the Spike gene that it carries”, the organization writes in its epidemiological bulletin dedicated to the Covid -19 pandemic and nocturnal transmission. from Thursday to Friday.
Israel, Denmark and the United States
It is the Spike protein that gives the virus its spiky appearance and is what allows SARS-CoV-2 to enter host cells. So far, this new variant has only been detected in Israel, Denmark, and the United States.
In the United States, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) also indicated that they are closely monitoring the variant, in a message posted on the social network X (ex-Twitter).
Currently, only four known sequences of this variant have been reported, with no known associated epidemiological link, explains the WHO. “The potential impact of the BA.2.86 mutations is currently unknown and is being carefully evaluated,” the organization said, stressing once again the importance of continuing to monitor, sequence, and notify competent authorities in order to have an accurate and comprehensive picture of Covid. -19. 19 pandemic.
decreased vigilance
WHO is currently tracking three variants of interest (XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 and EG.5) and seven variants are classified under surveillance (BA.2.75, BA.2.86, CH.1.1, XBB, XBB.1.9.1, XBB.1.9.2 and XBB.2.3).
Most of the States that had put in place specific surveillance systems for the presence of the Covid-19 virus and its variants have generally dismantled them, believing that the threat was now less serious and no longer justified these expenses.
The WHO continues to denounce this “disarmament” and continues to “call for better tracking, sequencing and reporting of Covid-19 as this virus continues to circulate and evolve.”
A virus that continues to circulate and kill
If, since the beginning of May, the WHO no longer considers the pandemic a global health emergency, “the virus continues to circulate in all countries, it continues to kill and it continues to change,” its director general Tedros Adhanom stressed again last week. Ghebreyesus.
During the last period under review (July 17 to August 13, 2023), more than 1.4 million new cases of Covid-19 and more than 2,300 deaths were reported, according to the WHO epidemiological bulletin. This represents a 63% increase and a 56% decrease, respectively, compared to the prior 28-day period.
As of August 13, 2023, more than 769 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 6.9 million deaths have been reported worldwide. The actual number of infections and deaths is believed to be much higher, with many cases missing from the census.
Source: BFM TV
