US-Returned Man From Rajasthan Tests Positive For XBB.1.5 Variant Which Brought Covid-19 Surge In America

Rajasthan Man who returned from United States last month tests positive for XBB.1.5 variant which brought a surge of Covid-19 cases in America.

Written by: Shrimansi Kaushik Edited by: Shrimansi Kaushik

Updated: January 4, 2023, 6:44 PM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/united-states-returned-man-from-rajasthan-tests-positive-for-xbb-1-5-variant-which-brought-covid-19-surge-in-america-omicron-subvariant-5838612/ Copy

Omricron subvariant XBB 1.5 detected in Rajasthan, the variant responsible for Covid surge in United States.

Jaipur: India has detected its first case of Covid-19 Omicron’s XBB.1.5 variant in Rajasthan in US-returned man from Sikar. The variant is responsible for driving the sudden surge in cases in the United States. Chief medical health officer (CMHO), Jaipur, Dr Vijay Foujdar said the man, who returned from the United Stated on December 19, had fever on December 22 and was later tested positive for Covid-19. “The genome sequencing report arrived today has detected the new variant XBB.1.5,” he said.

Foujdar said the variant is nowhere connected with that of China. The patient is healthy and home quarantined. A medical team has been sent for sampling of relatives and people he came in contact with.

The XBB.1.5 strain is a relative of the Omicron XBB variant, which is a recombinant of the Omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants. Combined, XBB and XBB.1.5 make up 44 per cent of cases in the US.

Covid-19 variant Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant in India with ‘XBB’ being the most prevalent sub-lineage circulating all over the country, the SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said in its bulletin.

The INSACOG said Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant in India. XBB is the most prevalent sub-lineage (63.2 per cent) circulating all over India.