Early Detection of the Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 XAN Variant in Bulgaria: Initial Genomic Insights into Yet Another Piece of the Growing Puzzle of Recombinant Clades

• Published in: Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 8; p. 2041
• Main Authors: Alexiev, Ivailo, Ivanov, Ivan, Giovanetti, Marta, Cella, Eleonora, Stoikov, Ivan, Donchev, Deyan, Grigorova, Lyubomira, Gancheva, Anna, Dimitrova, Reneta, Scarpa, Fabio, Korsun, Neli, Trifonova, Ivelina, Dobrinov, Veselin, Kantardjiev, Todor, Christova, Iva, Ciccozzi, Massimo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-08-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: BA.2; BA.5; Communication; coronavirus; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Disease transmission; Genomes; Microbial mutation; Mortality; Mutation; Omicron variant; Pandemics; Phylogenetics; Public health; recombinant SARS-CoV-2; RNA polymerase; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Surveillance; Virulence; Viruses; XAN; Bulgaria; South Korea; North America; Europe
• ISSN: 2076-2607; 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11082041

The first recombinant SARS-CoV-2 variants were identified in 2022, causing public health concerns. The importance of recombinant variants has increased especially since the WHO designated the recombinant variant XBB and its lineages as subvariants that require monitoring on 20 November 2022. In this study, we provide the first insights into the new SARS-CoV-2 variant named XAN, a recombinant composed of Omicron sub-lineages BA.2 and BA.5. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 XAN variant identified in Bulgaria.