A coronavirus strain that mixes the delta and omicron types has been found by a researcher in Cyprus.
According to reports, Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences and head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology at the University of Cyprus, dubbed the strain “deltacron” because of its omicron-like genetic fingerprints within the delta genomes.
Kostrikis and his team have discovered 25 cases of the virus, although It’s still too early to tell if the strain has spread farther.
“We will see in the future if this strain is more pathological or more contagious or if it will prevail” against the two dominant strains, delta and omicron, Kostrikis said in an interview. He believes omicron will also overtake deltacron, he added.
The researchers sent their findings this week to GISAID, an international database that tracks viruses.
The deltacron variant comes as omicron continues its rapid spread across the globe, causing a surge in Covid-19 cases.
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