XEC COVID-19 Variant Now Circulating in the US: CDC Data

An electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold objects), which causes COVID-19, emerging from cultured cells. NIAID via The Epoch Times

Recent estimates published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the XEC COVID-19 variant is now circulating inside the United States.

According to the CDC’s Nowcast tracking tool, XEC makes up about 10 percent of all COVID-19 cases reported in the country as of Oct. 13. It’s now the No. 2 most common COVID-19 strain in the country, behind the K.P.3.1.1 variant that emerged earlier this year.

Both variants are derived from the Omicron strain that emerged in late 2021.

The XEC variant first appeared in Berlin in late June and has spread across Germany, France, Denmark, and Netherlands, according to a report from data integration specialist Mike Honey, citing the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data.

XEC was described by a CDC official to The Epoch Times as a proposed name of a “recombinant, or hybrid, of the closely related Omicron lineages KS.1.1 and KP.3.3.” Recombinants sometimes occur when a person is infected with two different COVID-19 strains.

Doesn’t Appear More Severe

On Oct. 10, UK Health Security Agency epidemiologist Jamie Lopez Bernal said that their surveillance has shown that about 1 in 10 COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom come from the XEC lineage.

“Current information doesn’t suggest we should be more concerned about this variant but we are monitoring this closely,” Bernal said.

“We understand people may be concerned about new variants.”

In late September, CDC spokeswoman Rosa Norman told The Epoch Times that the CDC is monitoring “the emergence of variants in the population” such as XEC but stressed that “specific cases cannot be associated with specific variants.”

“Please continue to check the COVID Data Tracker for updated information on the common variants we’re seeing [in] the U.S.,” she said.

Symptoms

When asked last month about whether XEC may produce different or more severe symptoms, Norman said the CDC is not aware of any “specific symptoms” associated with the variant or “co-circulating” strains.

Another health organization that has been monitoring COVID-19 variants, including XEC, said in a recent update that it also has no data from patients or experiments about XEC’s symptoms or “what kind of illness” it can cause.

“However, this new variant will probably be similar to other COVID variants in terms of the disease caused, given its similar genetic information. So symptoms such as a high temperature, sore throat with a cough, headaches and body aches along with tiredness are to be expected,” said GAVI, an organization that has the goal of increasing vaccinations in poorer nations.

The CDC spokesperson recommended that people aged 6 months and older get one of the updated COVID-19 vaccines that were signed off by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the summer.

“At this time, we anticipate that COVID-19 treatments and vaccines will continue to work against all circulating variants,” Norman said. “CDC will continue to monitor the effectiveness of treatment and vaccines against circulating variants. There are other actions you can take to help protect yourself and others from health risks caused by COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.”

COVID Levels ‘Low’

Despite XEC’s emergence, data provided by the CDC as of Oct. 5 show that COVID-19 is broadly trending downward across the United States and is currently at “low” levels.

A map provided by the agency, meanwhile, shows that COVID-19 levels are “high” in most New England states as well as the Pacific Northwest and several mountain region states.

Oregon and Montana are the only states in the country with “very high” levels of viral activity, according to the CDC. High levels of COVID-19 have also been reported in about a half-dozen other states.