First cases of Omicron's B.A. 4, B.A.5 sub-variants detected in Maharashtra

New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) Maharashtra on Saturday reported its first Covid case of the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Covid's Omicron strain.The subvariants have been detected in at least 7 people from Pune.A total of four infections caused by the BA.4 sub-strain of Omicron coronavirus variant, and three cases of BA.5 sub-strain have been detected.The cases of this subvariants have been reported in the state, days after the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) on Saturday confirmed cases with BA.4 and BA.5 variants in Tamil Nadu and Telangana for the first time in India.As per the INSACOG report, 19-year-old female in Tamil Nadu was found infected with the BA.4 variant of SARS-CoV-2 and a male from Telangana was tested positive for the BA.5 variant."BA.4 and BA.5 are subvariants of the Omicron variant circulating globally. These were reported first from South Africa earlier this year and are now reported from several other countries," INSACOG had said in a statement. It also added that these variants have not been associated with disease severity or increased hospitalisation.
--IANS avr/vd

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