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The new Covid-19 variant, known as XFG and nicknamed Stratus, is spreading rapidly across the US.
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The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that the variant was estimated to account for up to 14 per cent of cases by late June.
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The World Health Organisation considers the overall public health risk from XFG to be low and has classified it as a 'variant under monitoring.'
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XFG belongs to the Omicron family. It is a recombinant variant, originating from two variants, LF.7 and LP.8.1.2.
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Recombinant variants are hybrid variants which emerge when a person is infected with two different Covid-19 variants simultaneously. They are typically denoted with an "X" prefix.
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Till now, there is no evidence that XFG can cause severe illness. Like most Omicron sub-variants, it appears to be associated with mild upper respiratory symptoms.
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Symptoms of the XFG variant include: Fever, shortness of breath, sore throat, fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle and body ache, loss of taste and smell and diarrhea.
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A WHO report has also confirmed that this variant does not lead to more severe illness or deaths than other variants in circulation.
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