The new variant of COVID-19: ‘XEC’, has spread to 27 countries as of 19th September 2024.
Classified as ‘more contagious’, this variant was first identified in Germany in June 2024 and has since emerged in the US, Denmark, and several other countries.
It is a sublineage of the omicron variant and is a hybrid of KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 sub-variants.
Some 500 samples from 27 countries, including Poland, Norway, Luxembourg, Ukraine, Portugal, and China, have been found to contain XEC.
The scientists believe that XEC has a set of mutations that can make it more contagious.
#covid19 #pandemic #coronavirus #xec
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Down to Earth is Science and Environment fortnightly published by the Society for Environmental Communication, New Delhi. We publish news and analysis on issues that deal with sustainable development, which we scan through the eyes of science and environment.
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