JumblePublishingOct 9
The medieval cerastes hunted by burying itself in sand with only its horns sticking out and lunging out at animals that came near as in this image from an English bestiary dated from c1225-1250. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #cerastes #medievalart
JumblePublishingOct 8
This particular beast is thought be a cerastes but is only described as a "serpent with horns". There is no explanation of the wings or the fact that it seems to have a second head at the end of its tail. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #cerastes #medievalart
JumblePublishingOct 7
The cerastes was described as a horned serpent which, in spite of modern ideas, doesn't appear to mean legless. Most cerastes drawn in full have legs as like this c1350 Flemish image. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #cerastes #medievalart
JumblePublishingOct 6
This week's medieval beast is the cerastes. This was a horned serpent so flexible it was as if it was boneless. This snake-like version is from a poorly treated English bestiary dated to 1220-1240. #medievalmanuscripts #medievalbeasts #cerastes #medievalart
Mike HoneyFeb 18, 2023

In recent days a new variant has been proposed - a recombinant of BR.2.1 "Cerastes" and XBF "Bythos". The earliest sample reported so far was from Victoria, in mid-January. All the samples globally have been found in Australia - covering New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.

Recombinant variants typically arise when an immune-compromised person is infected with multiple variants at once. The more often that happens, and the longer the co-infection, the more chances of recombinant variants being formed and spreading to the broader population.

As recombinant variants have become more common, they are involved in more of these scenarios. This gives the virus a multiplier in it's constant search to find new, more evasive combinations.

I'm searching for those samples here by looking for samples with the Spike F486P and NS8 S82T mutations. There are 10 so far, rising to around 1.5% frequency for Australia. There's now very limited genomic sequencing data shared from other states besides NSW, so this could be going undetected elsewhere.

#COVID19 #Australia #XBF #Bythos #BR_2_1 #Cerastes @auscovid19
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