The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said the new COVID-19 variant which has been detected in 51 countries is not in Nigeria.
In a statement on Saturday, NCDC’s Director-General, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa said that the centre is currently monitoring the new variant.
He said: “NCDC is monitoring the new subvariants (descendants) of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, named EG.5 and BA.2.86. The EG.5 variant is a descendant of XBB.1.9.2 (itself a descendant of Omicron). (descendants) of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, named EG.5 and BA.2.86.
“The EG.5 variant is a descendant of XBB.1.9.2 (itself a descendant of Omicron). As of 7th August 2023, the EG.5 has been reported in fifty-one (51) countries including China, the United States of America, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Spain etc.”
Ifedayo said the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified EG.5 as a “variant of interest” (VOI) and conducted a risk assessment which found the new variant poses a low risk at the global level.
He further stated that although the ancestor, BA.2 has been previously found in Nigeria, no BA.2.86 variant has been identified in Nigeria, adding that the NCDC’s COVID-19 Technical Working Group (COVID-19 TWG) was closely monitoring COVID-19 epidemiology.
