First Case of ‘Kraken’ COVID-19 Variant Discovered in South Africa – Researchers
Sandile Cele, a researcher at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa, works on the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus on Dec. 15, 2021.
In December 2022, the World Health Organization reported that almost three years since the first COVID-19 case in Africa was registered in February 2020, the number of infection cases detected on the continent was around 9.5 million.The first case of the XBB.1.5 “kraken variant” of COVID-19 has been detected in South Africa, researchers at Stellenbosch University stated. “No increase in cases, hospitalisation or deaths” has been registered in South Africa in connection with the new strain, Tulio de Oliveira, director of the university’s Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation, wrote on his social media page.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), XBB.1.5 is “the most transmissible sub-variant” of the virus. It is a sub-variant of the omicron strain and was nicknamed “kraken” unofficially.So far, there have been no reports of significant differences in severity between the symptoms it causes and those caused by other coronavirus variants. However, it has been reported that XBB.1.5 exhibits signs of immunity escape, meaning it can evade immunity developed by vaccines or previously experienced cases of earlier COVID-19 variants.Kraken has been detected in at least 29 countries, including the US, where it quickly became the dominant strain (rocketing from 1% to 41% of all infections between the beginning and the end of December), WHO says. It is still unknown if XBB.1.5 has reached China, which is facing an increase in infection cases after strict measures, which helped limit the spread of earlier virus waves, were relaxed.
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