The emergence of new variants of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) associated with varying infectivity, pathogenicity, diagnosis, and effectiveness against treatments challenged the overall management of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
WHO Label/Pango Lineage | Country First Detected | Spike Mutations of Interest | Outbreak Countries | Major Outbreak Peaks | Classification (WHO) during November 2022 | Outbreak Condition during November 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alpha/B.1.1.7 | United Kingdom, September 2020 | N501Y, D614G, P681H | At least 189 countries, predominant in the US, India, Sweden, France, Spain, Australia, Nigeria, and so on (1.2 million cases globally reported). | November 2020 to August 2021 | VOC: 29 December 2020 VBM: 21 September 2021 PVOC: 9 March 2022 |
Drastically reduced circulation globally, with almost no reporting at the time of writing the manuscript. |
Delta/B.1.617.2 | India, October 2020 | L452R, T478K, D614G, P681R | At least 208 countries, predominant in the US, UK, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, Canada, Denmark, France, and so on (4.4 million cases globally). | May 2021–January 2022 | VOC: 15 June 2021 VBM: 14 April 2022, PVOC: 7 June 2022 |
Abundance is very low at the time of writing the manuscript. |
Beta/B.1.351 | South Africa, May 2020 | K417N, E484K, N501Y, D614G, A701V | At least 127 countries, predominant in South Africa, the US, India, Sweden, France, Spain, Australia, Nigeria, Iran, and so on (43,000 cases globally). | November 2020 to August 2021 | VOC: 29 December 2020 VBM: 21 September 2021, PVOC: 9 March 2022 |
Drastically reduced circulation globally, with almost no reporting at the time of writing the manuscript. |
Gamma/P.1 | Brazil, November 2020 |
K417T, E484K, N501Y, D614G, H655Y | At least 93 countries, predominant in the US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Italy, Peru, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea, Venezuela, and so on (74,300 cases globally). | Feb 2021–November 2021 | VOC: 29 December 2020 VBM: 21 September 2021 PVOC: 9 March 2022 |
No longer detected or detected at extremely low levels globally. |
Epsilon/B.1.427, B.1429 | California USA, July 2020 | I4205V and D1183Y in the ORF1ab gene, and S13I, W152C, L452R in the spike protein’s S-gene | At least 45 countries. | November 2020–March 2021 | VOC, March 2021. VBM-September 2021. Previously circulating VOI: March 2022 (WHO), |
After an initial increase, its prevalence rapidly decreased from February 2021 and was outcompeted by the more transmissible Alpha variant. |
Lambda/C.37 | Peru, August 2020 | Virus’s spike protein code: G75V, T76I, Δ246–252, L452Q, F490S, D614G and T859N | At least 45 countries (predominant in Peru, Chile, US). Total global cases of less than 10,000. | November 2020–November 2021 | VOI June 2021 | No longer reported. |
Omicron/BA.2, BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.75, BQ.1, XBB | South Africa and Botswana November, 2021 |
BA.2 (y*), BA.4 (L452R, F486V, R493Q), BA.5 (L452R, F486V, R493Q). BA.2.75 (z**), BQ.1 (K444T, N460K), XBB (N460K, F490S) |
At least 208 countries, predominant in the US, UK, Denmark, Canada, India, Japan, Germany, France, and so on (6.2 million cases globally, 14 December 2022). | November 2021-Currently circulating lineages: BA.2, BA.4, BA.5, and their recombinants and sub-lineages | BA.2, BA.4, and BA.5 are VOC, and BA.2.75, BQ.1, XBB are current VOI at the time of drafting the manuscript, December 2022. | Many lineages are currently going around the world (83,046 in the last four weeks of 14 December 2022). |