GENEVA, Aug 18, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - The World Health Organization and US 
health authorities said Friday they are closely monitoring a new variant of 
Covid-19, although the potential impact of BA.2.86 is currently unknown.

The WHO classified the new variant as one under surveillance "due to the 
large number (more than 30) of spike gene mutations it carries", it wrote in 
a bulletin about the pandemic late Thursday.

So far, the variant has only been detected in Israel, Denmark and the United 
States.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed it is also closely 
monitoring the variant, in a message on the social platform X, formerly known 
as Twitter.

There are only four known sequences of the variant, the WHO has said.

"The potential impact of the BA.2.86 mutations are presently unknown and 
undergoing careful assessment," the WHO said.

Francois Balloux, professor of computational systems biology at University 
College London, said the attention attracted by the new variant was 
warranted.

"BA.2.86 is the most striking SARS-CoV-2 strain the world has witnessed since 
the emergence of Omicron," he said in a comment published Friday, referring 
to the variant that exploded onto the global stage in the winter of 2022, 
causing a surge in Covid cases.

"Over the coming weeks we will see how well BA.2.86 will be faring relative 
to other Omicron subvariants," he said.

He stressed though that even if BA.2.86 caused a major spike in infections, 
"we are not expecting to witness comparable levels of severe disease and 
death than we did earlier in the pandemic when the Alpha, Delta or Omicron 
variants spread".

"Most people on earth have now been vaccinated and/or infected by the virus," 
he said, pointing out that even if people were reinfected with the new 
variant, "immune memory will still allow their immune system to kick in and 
control the infection far more effectively".

The WHO is currently monitoring upwards of 10 variants and their descent 
lineages.

Most countries that had established surveillance systems for the virus have 
since dismantled operations, determining it is no longer as severe and 
therefore could not justify the expense -- a move the WHO has denounced, 
calling instead for stronger monitoring.

In the last reporting period between July 17 and August 13, more than 1.4 
million new cases of Covid-19 were detected and more than 2,300 deaths 
reported, according to a WHO statement.

The case load represents a rise by 63 percent from the previous 28-day period 
while deaths were down by 56 percent.

As of August 13, there were more than 769 million cases of Covid-19 confirmed 
and more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide, although the real toll is 
expected to be much higher because many cases went undetected.