Health officials have issued a stark warning over the latest sub-variant of Omicron to be detected as it spreads across the globe.
‘Omicron Spawn,’ which is also known as BF.7 and BA.5.2.1.7 was included in the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC warned on Friday that the newest strain can evade all existing immune responses to Covid-19 as well as vaccines, as many countries prepare for a difficult winter.
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According to preliminary research carried out on the latest strain, there is potential for it to take over as the dominant within a few weeks.
The prevalence of BF.7 has doubled in the United States over the past two weeks, rising from 0.8% to 1.7%.
Meanwhile, it has also been detected in the UK while Australia and Belgium have had the majority of infections reported as BF.7 - accounting for 25% of cases - while Germany and France follow with 10% of cases.
Symptoms
At this early stage, there have been no distinctive Covid BF.7 symptoms that are exclusive to the new strain.
They are similar to what the original variant offered, so the symptoms include a sore throat, congestion, fatigue, cough and runny nose.
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