July 20, 2022
3 mins read

Moscow registers 5 cases of Covid-19 subvariant ‘Centaurus’

Earlier this month, the director-general of the World Health Organisation said authorities were aware of the variant and were monitoring it closely…reports Asian Lite News

Five cases of the Covid-19 subvariant Omicron BA.2.75, or “Centaurus,” have been detected in Moscow, the country’s consumer rights and human well-being watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has said.

“Five genomic sequences assigned to the BA.2.75 subvariant of the Omicron strain have been added to the VGARus (Virus Genome Aggregator of Russia) database.” 

Rospotrebnadzor said the samples were taken in July in Moscow, adding the patients all have a mild form of the virus and have not been hospitalized.

“Centaurus” was first detected in May in India and is believed to be highly transmissible.

Centaurus, which has the official designation BA.2.75, has been found mostly in India, although cases have been detected in Australia as well as the US, UK, Canada and Germany.

Earlier this month, the director-general of the World Health Organisation said authorities were aware of the variant and were monitoring it closely.

But WHO COVID-19 technical lead, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove​, said only now were sufficient samples becoming available to enable proper analysis of the subvariant.

“There are about 200 sequences available from about 14 countries. Our understanding of this virus is quite limited so far because we have very few sequences available,” she said.

Dr Michael Lydeamore, a research fellow in infectious diseases at Monash University, says centaurus is a form of Omicron, but with some unique mutations that distinguish it.

Omicron, he explains, refers to the high-level variant, which has undergone gene mutations to give rise to the BA.1 and 2, and BA.4 and 5 subvariants. “Those are called subvariants because you have the same high-level structure as Omicron but with a few extra mutations,” he says.

“Centaurus has the BA.2 mutations and then a few extra again, so it’s a kind of sub-subvariant.”

However, he says it is still not clear whether those extra mutations mean centaurus is more transmissible, better able to evade immunity, or produces a more severe illness.

“We’re seeing variants with high immune evasion become common in Australia,” he says. “But that makes sense because we have high levels of immunity in the community, so the only a way a variant can take off is immune evasion.”

He says the majority of Australia’s COVID-19 cases are now due to the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron, with a lower number of BA.1 and BA.2 infections.

Previous variants of concern such as Delta have now largely been wiped out by the family of Omicron subvariants.

It is important to note that centaurus is an unofficial nickname given to the subvariant by a Twitter user, and adopted by scientists and journalists alike as an easy moniker. Because it is a subvariant, WHO has not given it an official Greek letter such as those given to high-level variants.

Professor Nigel McMillan, program director of infectious diseases and immunology at Griffith University, says SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, does not seem to be following a “standard” pattern of viral evolution.

“What we would expect over time is that these strains get less and less problematic, with less and less clinical consequences,” he says.

“That makes sense from a viral evolution point of view because if a virus can keep you upright and walking around infecting other people, then it will spread much better.

ALSO READ-Colombo in talks with Moscow for Russian fuel

Previous Story

Ranil Wickremesinghe elected Lanka President

Next Story

Indian Army Chief calls on B’desh PM Hasina

Latest from Asia News

India Evacuates More Nepalis from Iran

The Nepal Embassy officials and MEA representatives received them at the New Delhi airport, as they departed for Butwal in Nepal….reports Asian Lite News The Nepal Embassy in New Delhi on Thursday

Hardliners eye Dhaka comeback

Maulana Manjurul Islam Afendi, Secretary General of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam, noted that efforts to bring these parties together had been in motion for years, but challenges remain in achieving consensus on the modalities

Over 7,000 Afghans return overnight

This latest influx is part of a broader, ongoing trend of mass returns—often under duress—from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan, where millions of Afghans have lived for decades, many without legal documentation. A

BNP OKs 10-Year PM Rule, Demands Reforms

National Consensus Commission Vice Chairman Ali Riaz said the discussions on the Prime Minister’s tenure issue have remained unresolved so far….reports Asian Lite News The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has reportedly agreed
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Backlash over celebrity party in Moscow amid Ukraine war

The Kremlin’s expansion of anti-LGBTQ laws in recent years, coupled

Putin hosts PM in Moscow

Talks between leaders to cover prospects for further development of