A ‘sister’ lineage of Omicron – the Covid variant rapidly
sweeping the world – has been detected by scientists.
Experts who detected the strain say it is genetically
similar to the super-mutant causing chaos in South Africa.
But one key difference of the Omicron-like subvariant is
that it is missing a genetic quirk that allows officials to quickly track its
spread, Dailymail reports.
Virologists say the version, currently called BA.2, has
already been identified in South Africa, Australia and Canada.
However, no firm details about the near-identical strain are
known – and its true origin remains a mystery.
Australian officials raised the alarm about BA.2 last night,
saying it was the ‘first in the world’.
It was spotted in a South African man who returned from the
country’s Omicron ground zero of Gauteng.
Preliminary analysis suggests it contains its own set of mutations
as well as many found in the original Omicron.
In theory, it means BA.2, as the original Omicron, could
also be more transmissible than Delta, and possibly able to dodge
vaccines.
However, no concrete evidence has yet been published, with
BA.2 only thrown into the public spotlight by Queensland health officials last
night.
While information is still emerging, one key difference of
the Omicron-like lineage is that it can’t be detected almost immediately.
Known as the S gene dropout, this aspect of the original
Omicron means it can be detected using a PCR test, as opposed to a more
complicated lab analysis.
The fact that BA.2 does not have this S gene dropout means
this shortcut cannot be used and is thus harder to track as an outbreak.
Queensland’s health minister Yvette D’Ath confirmed the case
in a press conference last night.
“We are standing here announcing a new version of Omicron
and it’s a first in the world,” she said.
The man, who returned from Gauteng last week, is isolated at
a Brisbane hotel quarantine facility and is understood to have a mild case of
Covid.
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Peter Aitken said experts
were able to distinguish between the two types of Omicron genetically.
“[They] recognised there are differences between the full
and normal Omicron classification, passed it on to the international committee
in a really quick time frame. This now led to a re-classification of Omicron.
“It has enough genes to be classified as Omicron, but we
don’t know enough about it for what that means as far as clinical severity,
vaccine effectiveness. What we do know is that Omicron is more infectious and
more transmissible,” Aitken said.
Scientists say BA.2 has now been spotted in genomes
submitted by Australia, South Africa and Canada, suggesting it is already
spreading in other countries.
The arrival of BA.2 in Queensland came as the Australian
state recorded its first case of the original Omicron variant as well.
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