MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New Covid-19 subvariant detected in Argentina

Eris is feared to cause an increase in the incidence of cases and become dominant in some countries or even globally

Argentine health authorities have confirmed the detection in the South American country of the new Eris subvariant of the Covid-19 virus. The cases were confirmed in Cordoba and in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, it was reported. EG.5, a sublineage of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, has already been found in the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia.

The Omicron EG.5 subvariant, also known as Eris, was identified from genomic sequencing in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA) carried out by Proyecto País, the genomic surveillance consortium supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation.

The symptoms of the EG.5 subvariant are a sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing, coughing, headache, and hoarse voice. It may also cause muscle aches and an altered sense of smell. Breathing difficulty and fever are less frequent.

“To date, two isolated cases of the variant of interest EG.5 have been identified in Argentina, one of them from the surveillance of respiratory viruses in the Ambulatory Monitoring Units in the province of Córdoba and another case with residence in the city of Buenos Aires. The cases were detected through genomic surveillance carried out by the Federal Network of Genomics and Bioinformatics,” Health Ministry epidemiologists said in a statement.

Cases of Covid-19 have been reported to be on the rise in Argentina since last month. Last week, there were 109 cases as a daily weekly average, but more might be reported once all the data is loaded into the surveillance system.

“Every time a new subvariant entered, there was a significant rise in the curve of cases, much more than just because it was winter,” National University of Hurlingham's Jorge Aliaga was quoted as saying.

The EG.5 subvariant was identified in China in February 2023. It was first detected in April in the United States, where it is already causing about 17% of new Covid-19 cases, followed by 16% stemming from the XBB.1,16 version.

So far, 52 countries have detected Covid-19 cases with Eris, which descends from the XBB.1.9.2 variant of Omicron but with a mutation in the additional Spike protein Q52H, which helps it evade antibodies developed by the immune system in response to previous variants and vaccines.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Aug. 9 that EG.5 was a variant of concern. Eris is feared to cause an increase in the incidence of cases and become dominant in some countries or even globally.