April 12, 2022 – According to global news network WION, the World Health Organization is monitoring two new “sister variants” of the original omicron strain dubbed BA.4 and BA.5.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is working to determine the transmissibility and potential for severe disease from the strains, which shares a lot of the same qualities as the omicron subvariant BA.2.
The first BA.4 sample was detected in South Africa in January, and the country has confirmed 41 cases since then. Denmark has reported three cases, Botswana has identified two cases, and England and Scotland have each reported one case.
“Although the number of total genomes is small, the apparent geographic spread suggests that the variant is transmitting successfully,” the UKHSA said.