A NEW Covid strain has been labelled a “variant of interest” after it caused a swell in cases.
The EG.5 “Eris” strain is currently circulating in the UK, the US, Europe, East Asia and elsewhere, the World Health Organization said.
GettyThe EG.5 “Eris” Covid strain has been labelled a “variant of interest” after it caused a swell in cases[/caption]
The fast-spreading variant is now the most prevalent in the US, making up 17 per cent of cases.
It made up around two per cent of cases in the UK, 30 per cent in China, and was also behind upticks in South Korea and Canada.
Infections have been spotted in Japan, Australia, France, Portugal and Spain.
Despite being behind hospitalisations and cases across the world, experts say the variant is no more deadly than others.
A WHO spokesperson said: “While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date.
“While concurrent increases in the proportion of EG.5 and Covid-19 hospitalisations have been observed in countries such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, no associations have been made between these hospitalisations and EG.5.
“However, due to its growth advantage and immune escape characteristics, EG.5 may cause a rise in case incidence and become dominant in some countries or even globally.”
A more comprehensive evaluation of the risk posed by EG.5 was needed, it added.
Covid has killed more than 6.9million people globally since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, with more than 768million confirmed cases since the virus emerged.
The WHO ended the global emergency status for Covid in May this year.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid, said EG.5 is more transmissible but not more severe than other Omicron variants.
She said: “We don’t detect a change in severity of EG.5 compared to other sublineages of Omicron that have been in circulation since late 2021.”
What are the five “red flag” symptoms of Eris?
Eris is a strain of Omicron, which has five hallmark signs, according to the ZOE study.
These are:
Runny noseHeadacheFatigue (mild or severe)SneezingSore throat