Days after declaring Delta-plus strain as a variant of concern, health experts have warned against the emergence of four emerging coronavirus variants.
They have called for strong surveillance of these four variants -- B.1.617.3, a sibling of the Delta variant (B.1.617.2); B.1.1.318, which has 14 mutations; Lambda (C.37), which was designated as a variant under investigation on June 23; and Lambda Kappa (B.1.617.1), another sibling of the Delta variant.
The Lamba Kappa variant too needs to be closely monitored, though it has been less infectious than Delta or Delta-plus so far. While B.1.617.3 and B.1.1.318 are already present in India, Lambda is yet to make its way into the country though it is spreading fast across the world.
Also Read: Delta Plus variant puts Maharashtra on high-alert
Besides, they also called for more genomic surveillance to identify and find solutions to emerging variants.
Experts fear that opening of international air travel may bring a cocktail of new variants, including Lambda, into India.
The double mutant B.1.617, first identified in Maharashtra, gave rise to three variants -- B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3.
The WHO had named B.1.617.1 as Kappa and B.1.617.2 as Delta. However, it did not name the B.1.617.3 variant and it is now clubbed under the Kappa group.
According to reports, as on June 22, India reported 148 genome sequences of B.1.617.3 from the total worldwide sequences of 161. As far as the Kappa variant is concerned, India has reported 3,083 of the 4,217 sequences from around the world. The variant B.1.1.318 contains the mutation E484K.
India has reported two genome sequences of this emerging variant of 173 reported around the world, as per a GISAID data.
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