Covid In South Africa: New variants of Corona are being found in many parts of the world. Recently, a new variant of Corona, Kraken, has been found. In this sequence, on Saturday (January 7), the new variant of Corona has been confirmed to be found in South Africa, Kraken. This variant is the XBB.1.5 variant of Omicron, which has been given the nickname Kraken. According to data from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Kraken variant is responsible for 41 percent of cases in the US.
The Kraken variant of Corona is the most widespread variant, which originated from two different BA.2 strains. It is now rapidly spreading in many other countries including America. Kraken has its presence in about 28 countries including India and now South Africa has also joined.
WHO gave information
Maria Van Kerkhove, Kovid-19 technical lead at the World Health Organization (WHO), informed this week that XBB.1.5 is the most rapidly spreading sub-variant found so far in the corona epidemic. Due to the potential of this new variant to spread, some people have given it the name of “Kraken Variant”. Although no significant difference has been found so far in identifying cases caused by XBB.1.5 and other variants, WHO plans to make an update on the risks of the variants in the coming days.
First XBB.1.5 detected in SA today by Stellenbosch University, Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA). XBB.1.5 = 1% (1/97 of recent genomes). Isolate from 27-Dec-2022. Interestingly, two others assigned as BA.2.75 with additional Spike F486P mutation. Tweet 1/2
— Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) January 6, 2023
No information about Kraken variant in China
This new variant was discovered on December 27 last year, when researchers from Stellenbosch University together did genome sequencing of the variant. This information was given by Tulio de Oliveira, head of a gene sequencing institute at the university. So far, no information has been received about the Kraken variant in China, which is currently suffering the most from Corona.
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