The World Health Organization (WHO) and health officials in the United States have announced their vigilant tracking of a novel variant of Covid-19, designated as BA.2.86.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding its potential impact, these organizations are closely observing its development.
The WHO categorized this emerging variant as a subject of surveillance due to its possession of a significant number of spike gene mutations—over 30, to be precise.
This classification was detailed in a pandemic bulletin released by the WHO on Thursday.
So far, BA.2.86 has exclusively been identified in Israel, Denmark, and the United States.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) affirmed its active monitoring of the variant. This announcement was conveyed through a message posted on the X social platform (formerly known as Twitter).
Currently, there are only four known sequences of this variant, as verified by the WHO.
While the implications of the BA.2.86 mutations remain unclear, they are under thorough evaluation by the WHO.
In the realm of Covid-19, the WHO’s ongoing surveillance encompasses more than 10 variants and their corresponding lineages.
While several nations had established robust surveillance mechanisms for the virus, many of these operations have been dismantled under the assumption that the virus is no longer as severe.
The WHO, however, has condemned this move and has called for intensified monitoring efforts instead.
In the reporting interval spanning from July 17 to August 13, the WHO recorded a detection of over 1.4 million new Covid-19 cases, alongside more than 2,300 reported deaths.
This reflects a 63 percent surge in case numbers compared to the previous 28-day period, whereas deaths have declined by 56 percent.
As of August 13, the global tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases surpassed 769 million, with over 6.9 million reported deaths. It is anticipated that the true toll might be considerably higher due to undetected cases.