The existence of EG.5 or sub-lineages of the coronavirus has been documented in Uganda, Egypt, Cape Verde, and South Africa, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Following the recent increase in the number of E.G.5 cases recorded, the World Health Organisation recognised EG.5, a descendant lineage of XBB.1.9.2, and its sub-lineages as a variation of interest on August 9, 2023.
According to a statement acquired by our correspondent on Saturday, as of August 24, 2023, approximately 13000 sequences of E.G.5 have been reported from 59 nations in five regions internationally – Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania have reported the presence of EG.5 or its sub-lineages.
The African Union’s public health department stated:
“In Africa, four African Union Member States have reported the presence of this subvariant or its sub-lineages including, Uganda (2), Egypt (2), Cape Verde (1), and South Africa (1).
“In addition to the increase in the number of cases reported, there has also been a reported increase in hospitalisations in Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. EG.5 has also shown increased growth advantage, and immune escape properties. However, there is no evidence yet of an association between EG.5 and severity nor hospitalisation of COVID-19 cases.
“Africa CDC is therefore continuing to monitor this new variant in order to fully understand the pathogenicity and its impact on vaccine efficacy in Africa.”
However, the agency encouraged AU Member States, particularly Nigeria, and other health authorities to speed up vaccination of high-risk groups and enhance the sentinel surveillance system.
According to the Africa CDC:
“COVID-19 vaccines remain a key tool to prevent severe cases and deaths from COVID-19 infection. AU Member States should accelerate the immunization of high-risk populations.
“Strengthen sentinel surveillance system to monitor trends and key indicators like hospitalization, severity, bed occupancy and test positivity.
“Reinforce timely genomic surveillance through coordination with national and regional pathogen genomics laboratories. The Africa CDC, through the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative, continues to support this coordination at the continental level.”
It also asked AU Member States and other health authorities to perform epidemiological studies to determine the severity of the EG.5, the impact on the healthcare system, and the efficacy of public health initiatives.
It exhorted “all AU Member States to continue timely sharing of data on emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants or subvariant with Africa CDC.
“As the risk associated with EG.5 remains low, Africa CDC will continue to monitor the situation and provide further guidance to AU Member States and the public, as more information becomes available about the EG.5 and other subvariants.”
Over 769,806,130 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported to the WHO, including 6,955,497 fatalities, and a total of 13,499,865,692 vaccine doses have been provided.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said there are 266,675 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria as of August 26, 2023, 3,567 active patients, 259,953 discharged cases, and 3,155 fatalities.
cc: Punch Ng
