New COVID-19 variant was detected in Ufa

Two cases of infection with a new variant of COVID-19 were detected in Russia—in Ufa and the Rostov region. RIA Novosti reported this, citing information from Rospotrebnadzor's press service.

"Rospotrebnadzor constantly carries out molecular genetic monitoring of the nucleotide sequences of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in Russia. Thus, two cases of COVID-19 related to the XEC variant were recorded in the Rostov region and Ufa," the department said.

XEC is a new variant of SARS-CoV-2. It is a recombinant of two earlier subvariants of omicron FLiRT - KS.1.1 and KP.3.3. Symptoms of XEC are similar to previous variants. Among them are fever, sore throat, cough, loss of smell, loss of appetite, body aches, fatigue, headache, and runny nose. XEC was first detected in Germany in June 2024 and has since been identified in several countries. The earliest cases of the variant were reported in Italy in May, but these samples were only uploaded to the international GISAID database tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants in September. Although XEC spreads quickly, it manifests similarly to other recent omicron subvariants.

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Author: Daria Subbotina