The World Health Organization (WHO) alerted on August 17 to a new variant of Covid-19 which raises fears of an upsurge in cases.
This variant called “Pirola” was detected for the first time on August 15 in Catalonia, informs the newspaper El Periodico. This is BA.2.86, a strain derived from Omicron which appeared in November 2021.
A variant that should not be taken lightly since it is particularly monitored by the WHO and placed at an “emergency” stage. The reason? it would likely feature more mutations than its predecessors.
Indeed, the “Pirola” has more than 30 amino acid changes in its spike protein compared to its next closest ancestor, the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant.
Already more than five countries affected
By mid-August, there were already six cases of this new variant in four other countries: Denmark, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Although there is still a lack of information about Pirola, scientists assure that this variant is reminiscent of the massive return of Covid cases at the end of 2021, when Omicron came all just appearing.
Then followed the Delta variant, which also greatly concerned health organizations.
What are the symptoms?
The Canadian biologist, very well known for being a “virus hunter”, T.Ryan Gregory detailed on his account X, gave some details on the impact of this variant at the present time.
“We have only 6 cases recorded in the world and five of them were not transmitted via an infected individual on whom we can clearly identify and observe concrete symptoms”he specified.
It is therefore difficult for the moment to clearly define the effects of this variant, which remains closely monitored by the health authorities.