Reuters: U.S. incidence of new omicron subspecies rises to 18%
A new subspecies of the Omicron strain dominates the northeastern United States, but it accounts for less than 10% of infections in many other parts of the country, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says
In the U.S., the percentage of those infected with variant XBB of the omicron strain of coronavirus rose to 18% in a week, Reuters reports. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated the rate was 11.2 percent last week
The agency said the new Omicron strain subspecies accounts for more than 50 percent of COVID-19 cases in the Northeast, with incidence expected to continue to rise amid holiday travel.
According to the CDC, the subspecies strain dominates the northeastern U.S., but accounts for less than 10 percent of infections in many other parts of the country.
Kamil Khafizov, head of the genomic research laboratory at Rospotrebnadzor’s Central Research Institute for Epidemiology, told TASS in November that the XBB variants (XBB and XBB.1) are recombinants of Omicron sublines BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 (“centaur”).
According to him, the risk of reinfection by the XBB variant of the Omicron strain, according to preliminary data, may be higher compared to other circulating sublineages of the strain.
Khafizov stressed that as of November 1, no variant XBB omicron strain of the coronavirus had been detected in Russia.