CDC Identifies New COVID Strain Known as XEC
- By BSTQ Staff
A newly discovered COVID strain known as XEC continues to spread rapidly across multiple countries, including the U.S. While Omicron variant KP.3.1.1, also known as deFluQE, made up over half (52.7 percent) of COVID-19 cases between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14, XEC and a variant known as MV.1 seem poised to become the next dominant strains, scientists say. XEC is a recombinant of two previous variants, KP.3.3 (a FLiRT variant) and KS.1.1, Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease physician and professor at Yale School of Public Health.
According to Mike Honey, an Australian data scientist who has been tracking XEC’s spread, the variant first emerged in Berlin in late June and has since rapidly spread in Europe, North America and Asia. At this time, less than 100 cases of XEC have been detected in the U.S., says Dr. Ko. These have been reported in 12 states so far, according to the latest data from Scripps Research’s COVID-19 database, Outbreak.info. These states include:
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Maryland
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
References
Kee, C. New XEC COVID Variant Is On the Rise. What Are Its Symptoms, and Will It Cause a Surge? Today, Sept. 18, 2024. Accessed at https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/new-xec-covid-variant-symptoms-rcna171502.
