The World Health Organization (WHO) is actively following BA.2.86, a new COVID-19 variation discovered in Israel, Denmark, and the United States.
The WHO stated in a report during the week that the new version of the various is being classified as a variant under monitoring (VUM) due to the substantial number of spike gene alterations it has.
“On 17 August 2023, WHO designated a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, that has been assigned the scientific name (Pango- lineage designation) BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring (VUM) due to the large number (>30) of spike gene mutations it carries,” the bulletin reads.
“Currently, there are only four known sequences of this variant reported from two countries in the European Region and one country in the Region of the Americas with no known associated epidemiological connections.”
The WHO stated that the possible impact of the BA.2.86 mutations is unknown at this time, but that it is being carefully evaluated.
The organization stated that it will continue to advocate for improved COVID-19 surveillance, sequencing, and reporting as the virus circulates and evolves.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it is monitoring the virus’s lineage.
“CDC is tracking a new lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19. This lineage is named BA.2.86, and has been detected in the United States, Denmark and Israel.
“CDC is gathering more information and will share more about this lineage as we learn it.”
