GAUTENG CONFIRMS FIRST CASE OF NEW COVID-19 VARIANT, “ERIS”

Wed 16 August 2023:

The first case of the new Covid-19 variant was confirmed in South Africa, prompting the health department on Wednesday to reiterate its call for people to get vaccinated, IOL reported.

Department spokesperson, Foster Mohale, confirmed to IOL that the first sample taken in Gauteng tested positive for the new strain named EG.5 or Eris.

The World Health Organization (WHO) last week explained that EG.5 is a descendent lineage of XBB.1.9.2, which has the same spike amino acid profile as XBB.1.5.

“EG.5 was first reported on February 2023 and designated as a variant under monitoring in July,” the WHO said at the time.

“The largest portion of EG.5 sequences are from China, the US, Republic of Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the UK, France, Portugal and Spain. Globally, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of EG.5 reported in recent weeks.”

Symptoms and spread

Symptoms for Eris are reported to be the same as past variants, including a fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, runny nose, and change in taste and smell.

“While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date,” the WHO said in a risk evaluation published Wednesday.

It added that these properties may lead the variant to become dominant in some countries, or indeed globally.

The variant’s official name is EG.5, while “Eris” is a random nickname given online that subsequently popularized the EG.5.1 subvariant.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, EG.5 is now the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for 17.3% of cases as of the week ended Aug. 5.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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