New 'Omicron-like' version detected in 3 countries, 'stealth' strain undetectable in PCR tests

New Delhi, Dec 08: The Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), which has been designated by the World Health Organization as a variant of concern, has a second "lineage" of the variant.

Scientists have discovered the existence of two variants of Omicron.

The 'standard' one is referred to as BA.1, and a second variant of Omicron is known as BA.2. BA.2 has been nicknamed ' Stealth Omicron' because it differs from the 'standard' variety by, inter alia, not having the characteristic deletion by which PCR tests were able to detect it.

According to reports, the Omicron-like variant doesn't have the "S-gene drop out" feature.

The emergence of this new variant poses a threat to countries' COVID-19 testing networks as it is undetectable in PCR tests.

According to 'The Guardian,' the stealthy new variant lacks a genetic change that PCR tests use to identify the presence of the virus.

The new version of Omicron was discovered in samples from South Africa, Australia, and Canada.

Professor Francois Balloux, from the University College London Genetics Institute,told The Guardian that 6% of the Omicron genome samples submitted to the Gisaid genome database were the new stealth version of the variant, which is known as BA.2.

"There are two lineages within Omicron, BA.1 and BA.2, that are quite differentiated genetically," he said.

"The two lineages may behave differently." Scientists are worried that BA.2 could cause people to have a false sense of security while unknowingly spreading the virus to others.

Researchers are studying the new strain and are trying to understand how what caused it to mutate and how it mutated so quickly.