Eris, a new COVID-19 variant, has emerged as the most prevalent strain of Covid-19 responsible for most COVID-19 infections in the US.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the variant, also known as EG.5, was responsible for about 17.3 percent of US COVID-19 cases in early August. This is a 7.5 percent increase from early July.
Other variants that are prevalent in the US include XBB.1.16, with 15.6 percent of cases, and XBB.2.23, with 11.2 percent of cases. XBB.1.5 accounts for 10.3 percent of cases, while FL.1.5.1, a variant related to XBB, accounts for 8.6 percent of cases.
Experts say that EG.5 may have an advantage over other variants due to a mutation in the spike protein.
For example, it has a mutation called E484K, which may help it evade some antibodies generated by previous infection or vaccination.
They say that EG.5 is not likely to cause a massive wave of infections or deaths as omicron did and that the current vaccines and prevention measures are still effective against it.
Eris belongs to a group of omicron subvariants that are all descendants of the XBB strain, which is the main target of this fall’s COVID-19 vaccines.
The US has seen a slight rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations since early July, but deaths remain low and stable as it is not a major threat to public health.
Most of the cases and hospitalizations are in states with low vaccination rates and weak mitigation measures, especially in the South and Midwest.
The CDC recommends getting vaccinated and wearing masks indoors in areas with high or substantial transmission.
EG.5 is not the only omicron subvariant in the world, but it is not a variant of interest or concern to the WHO.
The WHO emphasizes the importance of surveillance and sequencing of Covid-19 variants to monitor their evolution and impact on public health.
“The threat of COVID is not gone. So, keeping up with surveillance and sequencing remains absolutely critical,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, M.D., the World Health Organization technical lead for COVID-19, in a statement last month.
The CDC is improving its capacity and timeliness to track Covid-19 variants, despite some data limitations from some regions.
The EG.5 variant has been detected in several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, and South Africa.