WHO ‘monitoring’ new COVID variant detected in three countries

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is closely monitoring BA.2.86, a new variant of COVID-19, detected in Israel, Denmark and the United States.

In a bulletin on Thursday, the WHO said is it classifying the new version of the various as a variant under monitoring (VUM) due to the large number of spike gene mutations it carries.

“On 17 August 2023, WHO designated a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, that has been assigned the scientific name (Pango- lineage designation) BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring (VUM) due to the large number (>30) of spike gene mutations it carries,” the bulletin reads.

“Currently, there are only four known sequences of this variant reported from two countries in the European Region and one country in the Region of the Americas with no known associated epidemiological connections.

The WHO said the potential impact of the BA.2.86 mutations is not known at the moment, adding that it is undergoing careful assessment.

The organisation said it will continue to call for better surveillance, sequencing and reporting of COVID-19 as the virus continues to circulate and evolve.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the US Centers for Disease Control said it is tracking the lineage of the virus.

“CDC is tracking a new lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19. This lineage is named BA.2.86, and has been detected in the United States, Denmark and Israel,” the post reads.

“CDC is gathering more information and will share more about this lineage as we learn it.”

According to the WHO, as of August 13, there were more than 769 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide.

The toll is expected to be higher because many cases went undetected.