Barely identified, it is already making a lot of noise. The new variant B.1.1.529, which should soon be named Omicron (the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet) by the WHO, was detected in South Africa earlier this week. It worries the scientific authorities because, according to the first studies conducted on it, it is more contagious than the Delta variant which is currently rife in Europe.
Submerged by a fifth wave, the Old Continent has already become the epicenter of the pandemic again and fears a possible arrival of this South African variant. The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, on the move in Brest (Finistère) on Friday 26 November, invite “all nationals who have arrived in France from southern African countries in the last two weeks to contact the health authorities – the regional health agency, the doctor, the pharmacist – without delay so that they can benefit without delay of a PCR test and that, if necessary, isolation measures can be put in place “, report BFMTV.
Franceinfo looks back on what we know about this new variant.
It seems more contagious
Its presence has been identified in the province of Gauteng, where Pretoria and Johannesburg, the two largest cities in South Africa, are located. This new variant was formally identified on samples taken from infected people and collected between November 14 and 22, reports the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) on its website. (in English). the South African Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization were warned in the wake.
This variant presents a number “extremely high” mutations and “we can see that it has a potential for very rapid spread”University of Kwazulu-Natal-backed virologist Tulio de Oliveira said at an online press conference chaired by the South African Department of Health. “Certain mutations in the genetic profile of this variant can affect the Spike protein which is the key to entry of the virus into the body “, detailed the French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, Friday, in Brest.
Her vaccine resistance is unknown
These two characteristics – numerous changes and great transmissibility – put the international community on alert. In South Africa, “lhe cases detected and the percentage of positive tests are increasing rapidly, especially in Gauteng, North West and Limpopo “, detailed the NICD. These two peculiarities can potentially make the variant dominant. As was the case with the Delta variant discovered in India and which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), reduced the effectiveness of vaccines against disease transmission to 40%.
Although it is still too early to know the real effectiveness of existing vaccines against this new variant, South African scientists are concerned about the ability of the virus to “bypass certain parts of our immune system “, said another researcher on the team, Professor Richard Lessells. As for the severity of symptoms that the virus could cause, “notWe do not have, to date, any knowledge on the pathogenicity of this variant because there are only a few cases yet “, underlined Olivier Véran, in Brest.
It has been detected in Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel
Since the sequencing of this new variant, “vingt-two positive cases were recorded ” in South Africa, listed the NICD on Nov. 25. But as laboratories analyze the Covid tests received, they “confirm more cases”. In neighboring Botswana, four people were identified as being infected with the variant during the week.
Infected travelers have been reported around the world. In Hong Kong, a case has been identified. The person was returning from a trip to South Africa. The newspaper The echoes speaks of a second person who would have been contaminated under circumstances yet to be defined. This second contamination by the new variant has not been officially confirmed for the moment.
A case has also been detected in Israel, the Israeli health ministry said in a statement on Friday. “This is a person who has returned from Malawi “, specified the ministry, saying fear “two additional cases of people returning from abroad” and placed in isolation. These three people were vaccinated against Covid-19, revealed the Israeli Ministry of Health, without however specifying the number of doses or the type of vaccine.
It has also been identified in Belgium
The French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, assured that this new South African variant “was not diagnosed in Europe” for the moment. “And we don’t want to be brought to [le] diagnose on national and European territory, if only as long as we do not know more about its dangerousness “, he stressed. He also assured that all passengers on the last flight from southern Africa which landed in Paris on Friday morning before the borders closed have been tested.
Shortly after Olivier Véran spoke, uA case of the new variant has been identified in Belgium. “We have a now confirmed case of this variant. It is someone who came from abroad. Who tested positive on November 22. Who was not vaccinated.”, detailed the Belgian Minister of Health, Frank Vandenbroucke, at a press conference. This case is one of two suspicious samples that were under examination and could potentially be linked to this variant, explained Marc Van Ranst, virologist at the University of Louvain, in the daily newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (article in Dutch).
It pushes Europe to close itself to southern Africa
The European Commission on Friday proposed to suspend flights from southern Africa, specifically to‘South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini (the new name for Swaziland). “The situation is changing very quickly, we want to make sure we do our best to slow the spread of this variant”, assured a spokesperson for the Commission. Several countries, including the UK, Germany, Italy and France, have already responded by banning travelers from southern Africa.
He is closely monitored by the WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) advises against closing borders at this time because it estimates that it will take a few more weeks to understand the level of transmissibility and virulence of the new variant B.1.1.529.
In the meantime, WHO is following “from close” this new variant and meets Friday to determine its dangerousness, explained Christian Lindmeier during a regular press briefing of the UN agencies. “It will take a few weeks for us to understand the impact of this variant. Researchers are working to better understand the mutations and what they might mean in terms of the transmissibility or virulence of the variant, and what the effects might be on the tools of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines “, he clarified.