Here's the latest variant picture for South Australia.

The "Deltacron" XBC.1.6 variant (35%) has been dominant since early April - a unique scenario globally.

95% of the XBC.* samples shared recently have come from Australia, and South Australia and Western Australia are the only states where it is anywhere near dominant.

The South Australians being infected with XBC.1.6 have a raised immediate re-infection risk should they rely on natural immunity when encountering all the other variants circulating in Australia and globally.

XBB.1.16 "Arcturus" (14%) looks like the next challenger, although it is only making slow progress so far. Be alert for conjunctivitis symptoms, which seem more common with that variant.

The sample volumes seem representative up to June 5.

#COVID19 #Australia #SA #Adelaide #XBC_1_6 #XBB_1_5 #Kraken @auscovid19

Interactive genomic sequencing dataviz, code, acknowledgements and more info here:
https://github.com/Mike-Honey/covid-19-genomes#readme

Here's the latest variant picture for South Australia.

The "Deltacron" XBC.1.6 variant (35%) has been dominant since early April - a unique scenario globally.

95% of the XBC.* samples shared recently have come from Australia, and South Australia seems the only state where it is anywhere near dominant.

XBB.1.16 "Arcturus" (14%) looks like the next challenger. Be alert for conjunctivitis symptoms, which seem more common with that variant.

The sample volumes seem representative up to May 14.

#COVID19 #Australia #SA #Adelaide #XBC_1_6 #XBB_1_5 #Kraken @auscovid19
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Here's the latest variant picture for South Australia.

Recently classified "Deltacron" XBC.1.6 (32%) is continuing to extend it's dominance.

XBB.1.5 "Kraken" (13%) continues to decline.

XBB.1.9.1 "Hyperion" (11%) and XBB.1.16 "Arcturus" (10%) are both continuing to rise.

XBB.1.16 looks a bit more rapid lately, so it might be the next challenger. Be alert for conjunctivitis symptoms, which seem more common with that variant.

The sample volumes seem representative up to April 25.

#COVID19 #Australia #SA #Adelaide #XBC_1_6 #XBB_1_5 #Kraken @auscovid19
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Here's the latest variant picture for South Australia.

Recently classified "Deltacron" XBC.1.6 (24%) is holding on to dominance. These are mostly being called as XBC.1 by Nextclade in the first chart, but the second chart is a bit more precise using mutation matching.

XBB.1.5 "Kraken" (20%) continues to decline.

XBB.1.9.1 "Hyperion" (9%) and XBB.1.16 "Arcturus" (4%) are both rising.

The sample volumes seem representative up to April 2.

Interactive genomic sequencing dataviz, code, acknowledgements and more info here:
https://github.com/Mike-Honey/covid-19-genomes#readme

Interactive mutation matching dataviz, code, acknowledgements and more info here:
https://github.com/Mike-Honey/sars-cov-2-genomes#gisaid---mutation-matches

#COVID19 #Australia #SA #Adelaide #XBC_1_6 #XBB_1_5 #Kraken @auscovid19

Here's the latest variant picture for Victoria, Australia. XBB.1.5 "Kraken" (26%) has resumed dominance - it seems to have fended off the challenge from XBB.1.9.1 "Hyperion" (16%).

XBB.1.16 "Arcturus" (9%) has been rising steadily, and will likely be the next challenger

The sample volumes seem representative up to March 30.

#COVID19 #Australia #VIC #Melbourne #XBB_1_5 #Kraken #XBC_1_6 #Deltacron @auscovid19
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Here's the latest variant picture for South Australia.

Recently classified sub-variant XBC.1.6 (30%) has rapidly surged to dominance.

Unusually, only a handful of samples of XBC.1.6have been detected outside South Australia - none in any other countries.

XBB.1.5 "Kraken" (26%) was dominant, but seems to be in decline.

The sample volumes seem representative up to March 27, with notably increased volume recently.

Interactive genomic sequencing dataviz, code, acknowledgements and more info here:
https://github.com/Mike-Honey/covid-19-genomes#readme

Interactive mutation matching dataviz, code, acknowledgements and more info here:
https://github.com/Mike-Honey/sars-cov-2-genomes#gisaid---mutation-matches

#COVID19 #Australia #SA #Adelaide #XBC_1_6 #XBB_1_5 #Kraken @auscovid19

Here's the latest variant picture for Queensland.

XBB.1.5 "Kraken" (27%) seems dominant, although XBF "Bythos" (23%) is putting up stubborn resistance.

There's an unexpected surge from CH.1.1 "Orthrus" (16%). While this seems a robust variant (causing significant waves earlier in the UK, Hong Kong and NZ), elsehwere it has been suppressed by XBB.1.5 and XBF. Perhaps a new sub-variant has arisen? This would be nsurprising, given the lack of masking in hospitals in QLD. That creates an environment where immunocompromised folks are forced into multiple infections - the perfect breeding ground for new variants.

XBB.1.9.1 "Hyperion" (5%) is relatively low, compared to other states.

The sample volumes seem representative up to 13 March.

#COVID19 #Australia #SA #Adelaide #XBC_1_6 #XBB_1_5 #Kraken @auscovid19

Last week a new sub-variant of the XBC recombinant was proposed by Son Nguyen and quickly designated as XBC.1.6. The earliest sample reported was from South Australia, in January. Most of the samples detected so far have been found in South Australia, reporting rapid growth to 14% frequency in mid-February. It hasn't spread internationally yet.

The XBC.1.6 lineage categorisation has yet to roll out to GISAID or Nextclade, so I'm approximating it here by searching for samples with the characteristic mutations - Spike R346S, L452R and F486P. There are 62 reported from Australia so far.

It looks like most of these samples are currently being classified as XBC.1 in GISAID, but most are not getting a classification from the current Nextclade algorithm.

#COVID19 #Australia #XBC_1_6 @auscovid19
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