Virologists have sounded the alarm over the emergence of another deadly Covid-19 Omicron variant which is rapidly spreading across the globe including Europe.
The BA.2.75 variant, nicknamed “Centaurus”, was first detected in India in early May and cases are rising steeply as it has been reported the new variant spreads at an ever faster rate than its cousins, the BA.5 and BA.2 variants.
Since spreading in India, Centaurus has reached the UK, US, Australia, Germany, Canada and now the Netherlands.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has assigned BA.2/75 as a “variant under monitoring”, meaning they are keeping a close eye on whether it could be linked to a severe bout of the disease.
This latest strain has evolved with a huge number of extra mutations, giving it a “wildcard” effect, where "the sum of the parts could be worse than the parts individually", according to Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London.
Dr Peacock told the Guardian that it’s hard to predict the effect of that many mutations appearing together, but that he sees it as a potential candidate for what comes after the latest most deadly strain, BA.5.
Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva said that Centaurus might be more contagious than BA.5 Omicron subvariant given the severe spike of cases in India.
He said it appears to be becoming the dominant strain in India and poses the question of whether it will become the most prevalent one all over the world.
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