TRACKING SARS-COV-2 VARIANTS

All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus’ properties. However, some changes may affect the virus’s properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of vaccines, therapeutic medicines, diagnostic tools, or other public health and social measures.

The Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA), which includes the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), KRISP at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), University of Cape Town (UCT), Stellenbosch University (SUN), the University of the Free State (UFS), the University of Pretoria, the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), continue to monitor and assess the evolution of SARS-CoV-2.

Please see below the updated NGS-SA report (05 April 2024) 

In summary:

Sequencing update

  • December sequences (n=116) are from all provinces except the Northern Cape. January sequences (n=84) are from the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, North West and Gauteng, and February sequences (n=167) are from the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, North West and Gauteng. March sequences (n=11) are from the Western Cape.

Variant of Concern Omicron in South Africa

  • BA.2.86 was dominant at 60% of sequences in December, but decreased to 50% in January, 22% in February, and 9% in March (based on low numbers in March).

  • JN.1 constituted 18% of December sequences, 40% of January sequences, 68% of February sequences, and 73% of March sequences.

  • Nine sequences of newly designated BA.2.87.1 lineage were detected in SA in September December 2023 no new sequences have been detected since December 2023.

  • Recombinant XDD.1.1 (EG.5.1.1 and JN.1.1) has been detected in Gauteng (n=1) and the Western Cape (n=17). It has a cumulative prevalence of <0.5% worldwide.

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (05 April 2024)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (31 DEc 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (24 DEc 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (17 DEc 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (10 DEc 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (8 DEc 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (3 DEc 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (1 DEc 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (26 Nov 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (19 Nov 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (12 Nov 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (05 Nov 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (29 Oct 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (22 Oct 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (15 Oct 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (08 Oct 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (30 Sept 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (27 Sept 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (17 Sept 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (9 Sept 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (1 Sept 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (27 Aug 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (19 Aug 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (12 Aug 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (5 Aug 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (29 July 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (19 July 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (12 July 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (7 July 2021)

SARS-CoV-2 GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE UPDATE (1 July 2021)