After being discovered for the first time in June in Germany, the novel variation, called XEC, has since spread to 27 nations, including France and the US, infecting over 600 persons.
A new strain of COVID-19 which has been predicted to become the dominant variant globally in the next few months, is rapidly spreading through Europe and the United States.
Since its discovery in June in Germany, the novel variation—dubbed XEC—has spread to 27 nations, including France and the US, infecting over 600 individuals.
XEC is the latest in a long list of past and current COVID variants being monitored as the COVID-19 virus naturally evolves.
The strain has been described by health experts as a recombinant variant. Naturally occurring recombinants can arise from a person carrying two separate COVID-19 infections at the same time.
According to medical professionals, the XEC variants are the result of recombination between two hybrids of previously identified omicron sub-variants, KS.1.1 and KP.3.3. Since both of these parent variants descended from JN.1, the dominant variant globally at the beginning of 2024, they are closely related.
Viral genetic sequences submitted for analysis are submitted to the Gisaid public database, which helps researchers identify cases of XEC. This platform makes it possible to identify mutations in the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2.
The US currently leads the world in XEC case count with 118 reported cases. According to media reports, there are 92 XEC cases in Germany, 82 in the UK, 77 in Canada, and 61 in Denmark. However, the real numbers may be higher in countries that do not routinely sequence COVID samples.
The KP.3.1.1 variant is the most common in Europe and North America, whereas the closely related KP.3.3 variant is more common in Asia.
Although no reports of XEC have come from any African nation, experts predict that in the coming months, the strain will probably overtake all other variants worldwide.
Compared to other strains, XEC is said to have a higher growth advantage, spreading much more rapidly than the others.
Experts said XEC has this advantage because of its relatively rare T22N mutation (inherited from KS.1.1) combined with Q493E (from KP.3.3) in the spike protein.
The spike protein is said to play a crucial role in helping the virus attach to human cells, allowing it to enter and begin replication.
However, the impact of the T22N mutation on the virus’ ability to replicate or spread among individuals remains largely unclear.
The first strain of COVID-19 and the first known case of the virus emerged in December 2019, with initial cases reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, China.
The virus, later identified as SARS-CoV-2, rapidly spread worldwide, leading to the pandemic declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. In Nigeria alone, at least 267,000 COVID-19 cases were recorded with a case fatality rate of 1.2 per cent.
Since the initial outbreak of COVID-19, several new strains, or variants, of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have emerged due to mutations.
These variants reflect the ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2, with some causing more severe waves of infection than others, often influenced by their ability to spread and evade immunity.