Mutated Omicron has already replaced original variant in South Africa

BA.2 is being watched closely by disease experts across the world and is spreading rapidly in some places (Picture: Getty/Rex)

A mutated version of the Omicron Covid-19 variant has already replaced its predecessor in South Africa.

The substrain of the variant which swept the world this winter is thought to be significantly more contagious than the original.

It has already been reported in the UK and the World Health Organisation say it could become the dominant version of the disease.

In South Africa, one of the first places where Omicron took hold, the strain known as BA.2 has spread rapidly.

The head of the continent’s top health body confirmed viral surveillance shows it has replaced Omicron in a matter of weeks.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said: ‘We have data from South Africa that the BA.2 lineage has now become the predominant variant in South Africa.’

While BA.2 – which is thought to have originated in the Philippines – appears to spread more easily, there is no data to suggest it causes a more severe disease.

Vaccination efforts continue in South Africa, which was hit early and hard by the original Omicron variant (Picture: AFP)

BA.2 is similar to the main strain of Omicron but contains about 20 different genetic differences, prompting fears it could evade immunity conferred by the original, BA.1.

In Denmark, where the new sub-variant is already well on its way to becoming dominant, a study found it is ‘substantially’ more transmissible. 

More than 1,000 cases had already been detected in the UK as of late January, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

There is also no evidence to suggest the current group of vaccines in use are less effective against BA.2.

Scientists are monitoring the sub-strain to see how effective it is at beating immunity from a previous Omicron infection or a vaccine (Picture: Getty)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed this week it expects the new sub-strain to spread across the planet.

Earlier this week, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead, told a Q&A session that four versions of Omicron are being watched by scientists, including BA.2.

According to MSNBC, she said the mutated version ‘is more transmissible than BA.1 so we expect to see BA.2 increasing in detection around the world’ and that health experts are watching for a spike in reinfection rates.

On Tuesday, Nicola Sturgeon said there had been a four-fold increase in the number of BA.2 cases in Scotland over the last week, adding the actual growth rate is probably much higher.

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