COVID-19 variant trackers are now closely monitoring the rise of a new virus variant, called XEC, which has been identified around the world and in half of the U.S. states.
Health officials have so far not expressed concern about this variant, unlike earlier, more highly mutated strains that worried experts.
The emergence of XEC comes as COVID-19 prevalence remains “high” but is now largely slowing after a summer wave of infections that peaked last month. Modelers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predict the virus will rise again over the winter, likely peaking in mid-January.
Here’s the latest information on the new XEC variants:
What states have reported cases of XEC?
At least 25 states have already reported at least one case with the strain’s characteristic mutation, according to preliminary data from more than 100 cases in the United States from the global virus database GISAID.
New Jersey laboratories have reported the most XEC cases of any state, at least 15. California and Virginia have also reported at least 10 cases to date.
The detections in New Jersey came primarily from samples collected through a CDC testing program of arriving travelers going through customs at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Some of the earliest cases in the United States were reported in July by scientists at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Institute, who took samples from patients.
“We are not seeing any particular trends and need to continue to monitor samples received and conduct more widespread genomic testing,” Carla Finkelstein, director of the institute’s molecular diagnostics lab, said in an email.
Finkelstein said the majority of the samples were collected from hospitals in Southwest Virginia, but it was unclear why they were being tested.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have demographic data on these patients, so we don’t know if they were hospitalized or if their samples were taken during an emergency department visit, for example,” Finkelstein said.
Why is the XEC variant in the news?
Variant trackers first proposed naming the new variant XEC in early August after cases were reported from laboratories in both Europe and Virginia at roughly the same time.
The rise of the variant has drawn recent online attention, with variant trackers such as Australian consultant Mike Honey raising alarms over its rise across Germany.
But others in the variant-tracking community are skeptical that the strain will be able to outcompete other strains on the rise, especially since a closely related strain called KP.3.1.1 is already dominant in many countries.
KP.3.1.1 now accounts for more than half of U.S. cases and has been dominant in recent weeks, according to estimates released by the CDC last Friday.
If XEC gains the upper hand, this could be the latest example of a months-long flurry of variants that has resulted in relatively little change in the threat posed by variants in circulation.
This is a highly mutated BA.2.86 variant The virus worried health officials at this time last year because it had accumulated a worrisome number of genetic changes compared to previous strains.
A descendant of last year’s BA.2.86 strain, JN.1It then came to dominate last winter’s wave of infections.
The “X” in the name XEC comes from the fact that the strain appears to be a “recombination” of two closely related parent strains, designated KS.1.1 and KP.3.3, both of which are descendants of the JN.1 strain.
Does XEC cause different symptoms or vaccine effects?
“CDC is not aware of any specific symptoms associated with XEC or other coexisting SARS-CoV-2 lineages,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement.
Americans are being encouraged to get vaccinated this fall and winter season. Latest COVID-19 VaccinesA CDC spokesperson said: These vaccines have been approved. last month An update has been made to target the KP.2 strain of the virus.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in recent weeks has defended its choice of KP.2 for this year’s revised vaccine, ignoring recommendations from the World Health Organization and the agency’s outside advisers to target its parent, JN.1.
The FDA said in a statement Wednesday that it is “highly confident” in the effectiveness of this season’s latest vaccines.
It’s unclear how FDA officials think XEC will affect their choices. An FDA spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“At this point, COVID-19 “Treatments and vaccines remain effective against all circulating variants. CDC continues to monitor the effectiveness of treatments and vaccines against circulating variants,” a CDC spokesperson said.
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