New AY.12 sub-lineage of Delta variant detected in Uttarakhand

New Delhi, Aug 31: A case of AY.12 sub-lineage of Delta variant has been detected in Kotdwar area of Pauri Garhwal district, as per CMO Dr Manoj Sharma.

Earlier, the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog) had said in its latest bulletin that AY.12, a sub-lineage of the Delta variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, has been seen in many states in the country, according to news agency PTI. The number of Delta Family have expanded from four to 13 variants.

This sub-lineage is believed to have caused the recent surge in cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Israel.

What is AY.12 mutation?

Delta variant (B.1.617.2) has given rise to several sub-lineages and are dubbed as 'Delta Plus' variants. Delta plus variant bear most of its characteristic mutations but in different ways.

Out of all, sub-lineages AY.12 has all the characteristic Delta mutations. However, according to INSACOG, it is not yet clinically tested whether AY.12 is different from Delta or B.1.617.2. AY.12 has lost some of the mutations as it happens in Delta lineage.

AY.12 in Israel

AY.12 is a dominant strain in Israel, currently. Around 51 percent of the samples were tested with this variant.

Delta variant is also known as lineage B.1.617.2 and Indian variant. This was first detected in 2020 in India. The variant was named as its current form by World Health Organization (WHO) on May 31, 2021.