The new coronavirus recombinant strain XE spreads rapidly around the world. XE strains have been found in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and other regions, and the spread of XE is 10 times faster than the Omicron subtype variant BA.2.
Brazil’s Ministry of Health on Thursday (7th) confirmed the first case of infection with the XE strain, which was detected and notified by the Butantan Institute. The Ministry of Health says the complete vaccine provides maximum protection, but less than half of Brazil’s adults currently receive a booster shot.
On January 19 this year, the XE strain was first discovered in the UK and is a recombinant variant of the Omicron subtype variants BA.1 and BA.2. According to data from the UK Health Security Agency, more than 600 cases have been confirmed in the UK, and its transmission is nearly 10% stronger than BA.2.
On April 1, Zhang Zhujun, director of the Infectious Diseases Division of the Centre for Health Protection of the Hong Kong Department of Health, said that the Hong Kong University team found that two passengers arriving in Hong Kong were infected with the XE strain in early February, but the virus did not flow into the community.
On April 2, the Taiwan Epidemic Epidemic Command Center confirmed that a case of infection with the XE variant strain was found. The case entered the Czech Republic on March 18, and the result of the test was positive, which is an asymptomatic case.
On April 6, the city government of Mumbai, India said that a confirmed case of the new crown recombinant strain XE was found, which was the first time that the XE strain was found in India. The case is a 50-year-old female who has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has not developed severe symptoms.
In its March 29 outbreak report, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that preliminary data showed that the XE strain was more infectious than the BA.2 strain, but more data would be needed to confirm the situation.
Data released by the WHO also showed that among the newly confirmed cases in the world in the past week, 93.6% of the cases were infected with the BA.2 strain, showing that this strain has become the mainstream strain. Fauci, the top U.S. anti-epidemic adviser, said the strain could lead to an increase in U.S. infections and a new wave of infections in the fall.