New Omicron subvariant found in Sask. during holidays, report says
CBC
A new Omicron subvariant was detected in Saskatchewan over the holidays, according to the latest Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program (CRISP) report.
The report, which covered the final two weeks of 2022, shows that Omicron subvariants BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 made up nearly 82 per cent of COVID-19 cases identified in Saskatchewan during the reporting week of Dec. 18.
But at least two cases of the XBB.1.5 subvariant, which is spreading in other parts of Canada and the world, have been identified in the province, the report shows.
"That's something to keep a watch on over the next month or two," said Dr. Cory Neudorf, a University of Saskatchewan professor of community health and epidemiology. He is also an interim senior medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Saskatchewan's COVID-19 situation appears to align with that of the rest of Canada.
Omicron variants and subvariants caused the vast majority of COVID-19 cases in the country during the week of Dec. 18, 2022, Public Health Agency of Canada data shows.
XBB.1.5 made up 0.5 per cent of cases found that week, data shows.
Health authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom predict XBB.1.5 will quickly become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in their respective countries.
"We don't really know if [XBB.1.5 is] going to take off… but it's certainly a possibility," said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist with the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.
This particular strain of SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — is a sublineage of the XBB and BA.2 subvariants. It was first detected last October and, as of Thursday, had been found in 29 countries, according to the World Health Organization.
It has swapped genes from those previous subvariants, while also mutating in a way that it can latch on tightly to human cells and evade antibodies well, giving it the potential to be highly transmissible, explained Nazeem Muhajarine, a University of Saskatchewan professor of community health and epidemiology.
The available information suggests, however, that XBB.1.5 should not cause more severe infection than previous Omicron subvariants, Rasmussen said.
The health experts CBC News interviewed each noted there isn't enough available data yet to tell how the subvariant will spread in Saskatchewan, especially as people return to their daily lives after the holiday season.
The detection of the new subvariant, they said, makes it important Saskatchewan residents get up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations.