Juliet Jacob Ochenje
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said that it is monitoring the new subvariants (descendants) of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 virus, named EG.5 and BA.2.86.
The EG.5 variant is a descendant of XBB.1.9.2 (itself a descendant of Omicron).
It stated that as of 7th August 2023, the EG.5 had been reported in fifty-one (51) countries including China, the United States of America, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Spain etc.
It stated in a statementreleased on Saturday: “The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified EG.5 as a “variant of interest” (VOI) and conducted a risk assessment which found this new variant poses a low risk at the global level. In addition, EG.5 has not been associated with any change in symptoms/clinical manifestation and has not produced an increase in severity of illness or hospitalisations or difference in death rates in reporting countries.”
“The EG.5 causes symptoms like those seen with other COVID-19 variants including fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, and sore throat. So far, only one case of EG.5 has been seen in Africa, it has not been identified in Nigeria.”
According to NCDC,the recently reported BA.2.86 is a descendent lineage of BA.2 a sublineage of Omicron, also found in Nigeria in 2022. As of August 23, 2023, the BA.2.86 variant had been reported in a handful of countries – the United Kingdom, Israel, Denmark, South Africa, and the United States. It has been classified by the WHO as a “variant under monitoring” (VUM) because it has multiple genetic differences that make it substantially different from its ancestor, BA.2 and from other currently circulating XBB-derived SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Further speaking on it, the agency said “since there are few cases identified so far, there is not enough information to make conclusive assessments of virulence, transmission, and severity. However, we do not expect it to be much different from other omicron descendants currently circulating. Although the ancestor, BA.2 has been previously found in Nigeria, no BA.2.86 variant has been identified in Nigeria.”
It assured that the NCDC’s COVID-19 Technical Working Group (COVID-19 TWG) is closely monitoring COVID-19 epidemiology local, regional, continental, and global, including emerging variants, adding that its influenza sentinel surveillance sites continue to provide information on COVID-19 prevalence in patients with influenza like illness and severe acute respiratory illness without any increase in trend of COVID-19 observed in this patient group.
“Unrelated to the news of these emerging variants, the NCDC and partners are working on implementing an enhanced COVID-19 testing exercise in four states to obtain complementary and more detailed information about circulating variants in the country. In addition, COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kits are being distributed for the purpose of improving bi-directional COVID-19 testing.
“We urge fellow citizens including media practitioners to act responsibly and share only verified information. There is no need to cause unnecessary anxiety and panic. As we have consistently advised, COVID-19 is here to stay and is now mainly a problem for those at high risk – the elderly, those with underlying chronic illnesses especially hypertension, diabetes, those on cancer treatment, organ transplant recipients and those whose immune systems are suppressed for one reason or the other.”
