South Africa has recorded its first case of the new Covid-19 variant, EG.5 or Eris.
Department spokesperson, Foster Mohale, confirmed to IOL that the first sample taken in Gauteng tested positive for the new strain.
According to the World Health Organization, EG.5 was first reported on February 2023 and designated as a variant under monitoring in July.
The largest portion of EG.5 sequences are from China, the US, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the UK, France, Portugal, and Spain.
The public health risk is low, and those who had Covid-19 before could be reinfected. Gavi.org reported that people with previous exposure to Omicron or SARS-CoV-2 variants are likely to suffer less severe infections.
Covid-19 vaccines are still likely to protect people from infection.
Symptoms include a sore throat, inflammation of the membranes lining the nose and sinuses, a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, headache, hoarse voice, muscle aches, and an altered sense of smell.
The WHO said that based on the available evidence, the public health risk posed by EG.5 is evaluated as low at the global level, aligning with the risk associated with XBB.1.16 and the other currently circulating Variants Of Interest (VOI).
The WHO has further tasked countries with keeping track of changes and sharing information as necessary.
IOL