An illustrative image of an individual holding a medical syringe and a vaccine vial in front of the Pfizer logo displayed on a screen.
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The World Health Organization is monitoring a latest strain of Covid-19 called EG.5, or “Eris,” that accounts for a growing share of cases in countries including China and america.
The WHO has designated it a “variant of interest,” meaning it’s going to be monitored for mutations that would make it more severe.
Based on current evidence, the organization says it presents a low public health risk at a worldwide level, according to other variants currently in circulation. In May, the WHO more broadly said Covid-19 was now “a longtime and ongoing health issue which not constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”
Symptoms and spread
Symptoms for Eris are reported to be similar to past variants, including a fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, runny nose, and alter in taste and smell.
“While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity up to now,” the WHO said in a risk evaluation published Wednesday.
It added that these properties may lead the variant to grow to be dominant in some countries, or indeed globally.
The variant’s official name is EG.5, while “Eris” is a random nickname given online that subsequently popularized the EG.5.1 subvariant.
Based on sequencing information submitted to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) as of Aug. 7, the biggest portion of EG.5 cases were identified in China, followed by the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Canada.
It was also identified in Australia, Singapore, the U.K., France, Portugal and Spain.
In keeping with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, EG.5 is now the dominant strain within the U.S., accounting for 17.3% of cases as of the week ended Aug. 5.
Vaccine reformulations
EG.5 is a descendent strain of a variant which shares a spike amino acid profile with XBB.1.5.
“EG.5 is a component of the XBB lineage and is more closely related to the XBB variants than it’s to previous vaccine strains,” Justin Lessler, professor within the Department of Epidemiology on the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, said via email.
“For that reason, the expectation is that the reformulated vaccines that shall be available this fall will offer higher protection to EG.5 than previous vaccines.”
Latest vaccines are expected to be available within the U.S. from late September, in response to CDC Director Mandy Cohen, as responsibility for vaccine distribution shifts to the private sector.
