Here's the latest variant picture for South Australia.
XBB.1.16.* "Arcturus" (26%) is growing recently, and looks about to displace EG.5.* "Eris" (21%) and the "Deltacron" XBC.* variants (27%).
#COVID19 #Australia #SA #Adelaide #EG_5 #Eris #XBC #Deltacron @auscovid19
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The rising XBB.1.16.* sub-lineage is indeed JF.1 (15%).
JF.1 is a "FLip" variant - carrying the Spike L455F mutation, complementing the Spike F456L mutation that defines XBB.1.16.6.
F456L-carrying XBB*, like EG.5, is rapidly rising. Meanwhile, XBB*+L455F+F456L is also growing fast. Some updates explaining their advantages: 1) F456L evades serum neutralization, even after XBB infection. 2) L455F+F456L combo adds on evasion and could also boost ACE2 binding!
Sample volumes seem representative up to September 11.
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