Here's the latest variant picture for Victoria.
XBB.1.16.* "Arcturus" (34%) is taking it's turn to dominate, following XBB.1.9.* "Hyperion" (24%).
XBB.1.5.* "Kraken" (13%) has been declining steadily.
The mix of very different variants poses a raised immediate re-infection risk for anyone relying on natural immunity from a recent infection.
#COVID19 #Australia #VIC #Melbourne #XBB_1_16 #Arcturus #XBB_1_9 #Hyperion #XBB_1_5 #Kraken @auscovid19
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Within the many XBB.1.16.* sub-lineages, the growth starting in early was driven by the FU.2 sub-lineage.
Starting from the platform of XBB.1.16 "Arcturus", XBB.1.16.1 added the Spike T547I mutation. FU.2 (alias for XBB.1.16.1.2) then added the C8692T nucleotide mutation.
No nickname is proposed for FU.2.
The sample volumes seem representative up to June 5. Over 3,000 samples from VIC were uploaded to GISAID in the last few days. While most were historical, the sequencing volume for this period is significantly improved.
I've also run all the data through the latest Nextclade classification algorithm since I last reported for VIC, which classifies the newer lineages like FU.2.
Globally, it looks like FU.2 was taking off in Malaysia prior to Australia. Unfortunately the sequencing volume from Malaysia crashed in mid-May, so the picture after that point is uncertain.
FU.2 is clearly spreading in a few other countries, without clearly taking off the way it has in Victoria, Australia, so perhaps the experience here will be informative for those elsewhere.
Attached: 2 images · Content warning: COVID-19 detailed statistics for VIC, Australia
Interactive genomic sequencing dataviz, code, acknowledgements and more info here:
https://github.com/Mike-Honey/covid-19-genomes#readme
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Mike Honey