A new type of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is causing concern around the world
South Africa confirmed Thursday that scientists there had discovered a variant with many mutations that could make it more easily transmissible. On Friday, the World Health Organization classified it as a "variable of concern," a classification it has given only to four other variables so far. The World Health Agency also gave it a Greek letter: Omicron.
Several countries, including the United States, have reduced flights on Friday and Saturday from South Africa. In contrast, epidemiologists have begun work to determine how far the virus has spread. So far, cases have been identified in half a dozen countries, most but not all linked to recent travel to Africa.
So far, there is little research to conclude, with experts urging caution but not panic. Studies are underway to examine how vaccines hold up against the new alternative, with some experts expressing initial optimism that they would provide protection. South African officials said most of those hospitalized did not get the shot.
"This i" the most problematic alternative we've Delta," Eric, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said in an interview Friday. "It's g. "It takes a high level to take on something in Delta,
The "European Union has begun to ban flights from South Africa due to fears of a new alternative.
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Where is the Omicron confirmed?
Although it is not known where the variant came from, it was first discovered in the southern region of Africa. On Tuesday, scientists in South Africa provided data on the changing public. Noting a distinct sequence, a virologist at Imperial College London, Tom Peacock, raised alarms about a "really" awful Spike mutation profile."
The variant is beginning to spread rapidly in "South Africa, where only 35 percent of the adult population is fully vaccinated. About 41 new daily cases per 100,000 people in South Africa over the past seven days, up 592 percent from the previous week.
At a news conference on Friday, Ian Sanne, an infectious disease specialist and member of the South African Ministerial Advisory Council on covid-19, said the new variant had become the dominant type and that "in general, we think it's more transmissible."
Case" have also been identified in Britain, Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong, and Israel. Most circumstances outside Africa appear to involve people who have traveled to the continent. Dutch health authorities said on Saturday that tests on nearly 600 passengers arriving from South Africa found 61 people infected with the virus - although the alternative is still unknown.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that Omicron has yet to be detected in the United States. New York Gov. Cathy Hochhol (D-D) declared a state of emergency Friday responding to the flurry of cold-weather infections and the threat of a new variable.
On the one hand, its genetic profile is unique from other circulating variants, which means that it represents a new strain of the virus.
Scientists worry that omicrons are more transmissible and better at evading the body's body's defenses, making vaccines less effective. the preliminary evidence indicated an "increased risk of reinfection" compared to other variables.
Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who conducted mutational scanning experiments for the B.1.1.529 variant, noted that three mutations in the variant could make the virus an elusive target for antibodies produced through vaccines or previous infections, but cautioned that there is still much to learn.
"What t" at means for how likely people are to get infected, even if they are vaccinated, is too early to say," Bloom," said, noting that conventional trials should provide more data. "But ha "ing a low neutralizing antibody is never a good thing."
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