COVID-19 and New Mutants Appear in Many Countries! Proposed name "Pi" laboratory | country | variation
On August 13, the chief researcher of the Pathogen Variation and Evolution Laboratory of the Ministry of Health of Israel, Shay Freison, announced on social media that a "wild" COVID-19 sample had been detected in the laboratory of Israel, and the sequencing results had been uploaded to the international COVID-19 genome database.
In the following days, researchers from Denmark, the United States, and the United Kingdom detected almost identical virus samples. At this time, Fraser felt that what they found was a new variant of COVID-19, and it might be a new generation variant of COVID-19- "Pi".
However, since the World Health Organization has not identified the mutant as a "mutant to be concerned", according to the naming rules of COVID-19, it cannot be called "Pi", but is temporarily named Omikjon BA.2.86.
Community Communication Appears in Four Countries
At present, a total of 6 cases of infection with the BA. 286 variant have been detected globally, distributed in four countries: Israel, Denmark, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Among them, Denmark has 3 cases, and there is no link in the transmission chain between cases in each country.
Shay Freson posted on social media stating that although the number of detected cases is relatively small, they are distributed in four countries across three continents and have all begun community transmission. At the same time, these cases all appeared in early August, and the time was close. This geographical distribution and rapid occurrence are worthy of close monitoring and investigation. In addition, the genomes of these samples are very close, indicating that the BA.2.86 variant appeared for a short period of time, possibly no more than 2 to 4 weeks, but it has already caused community transmission in multiple countries, so it is inferred that the variant may have a faster transmission rate.
On August 18th, the UK Health and Safety Agency released a preliminary assessment of BA.2.86, which is close to that of Shey Fraser. The assessment suggests that although the current sample size is small, the variant has rapidly appeared in multiple countries still undergoing genetic monitoring and in individuals without travel history, indicating the existence of international transmission. The sample sequences around the world are very similar, which may indicate that they are relatively new and growing rapidly. The UK case has no travel history, indicating a certain degree of community transmission within the UK. A more comprehensive assessment of the transmission situation in the UK will take 1 to 2 weeks.
Currently, many countries around the world have abolished policies such as virus testing and sequencing, relaxed systems for case reporting, and greatly increased the difficulty of discovering, monitoring, and researching new variants.
Record breaking number of mutations
BA. 286, as the name suggests, evolved from the Omicron BA. 2 variant. But unlike the previous variant, its number of mutations has set a record.
According to computational biology experts such as Jesse Bloom from the Fred Hatch Cancer Center in the United States, the BA. 286 variant has 33 mutations compared to BA. 2 in the spike protein gene region that determines the efficiency of virus invasion of human cells and antigen characteristics, 35 mutations compared to the Omicron XBB. 1.5 that swept the United States at the end of last year, 24 mutations compared to the currently dominant Omicron EG.5, and 57 mutations compared to the earliest discovered variant at the end of 2019.
On the 17th, because it carries a large number of mutations, WHO listed BA. 286 as a "mutant under monitoring", saying that "more data are needed to understand this COVID-19 mutant and its transmission degree".
May have outstanding escape ability
The assessment by the UK Health and Safety Agency indicates that BA.2.86 has a large number of mutations, which are significantly different from BA.2 and the currently popular XBB derived variants. Although it is not possible to accurately predict the combined effects of a large number of mutations, there is already sufficient information to anticipate significant changes in the antigen characteristics of the BA.2.86 variant.
Jesse Bloom's research suggests that out of 33 variations in BA. 286 compared to BA. 2, 17 variations may cause antibody escape, and out of 35 variations compared to XBB. 1.5, 13 variations may cause antibody escape. Many mutations in BA.2.86 can alter antigen characteristics, indicating that it evolved under strong antibody selection.
Therefore, although it cannot be fully confirmed at present, BA.2.86 has outstanding immune escape potential.
Experts brewing to name it "Pi"
At present, experts tracking COVID-19 mutants on social media have preliminarily reached an agreement to temporarily call BA. 2.86 mutants "Pirola" - the name of an asteroid. The reason is that if WHO upgrades BA.2.86 to a "variant that needs attention", according to relevant naming rules, the next letter of "Omicron" will be "Pi". If Pi is skipped, it will be Rho, and "Pirola" will sound exactly "Pi Rho La".
It is reported that the person who proposed this name is one of the earliest scholars in the world to issue warnings about the Omicron variant, and the famous American infectious disease modeling expert Willand. He explained that the BA.2.86 variant should definitely be "treated uniquely", which is not a moderate evolution. The difference between it and Omicron is too great, so he proposed to name it "Pirola". If it is upgraded to a "variant that needs attention", it can be renamed "Pi" or "Rho".
One of the discoveries of BA. 2.86 mutant, Shay Freison also said on social media that although BA. 2.86 evolved from BA. 2, it no longer belongs to Omicron, and its difference from BA. 2 is just like the difference between BA. 2 and the first COVID-19 mutant. If 20 cases can be found in ten countries around the world in the next week, he suggests naming it the "Pi" variant.
