Australia monitoring new ‘Eris’ COVID-19 variant as it spreads in the US

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A new strain of COVID-19 has been designated as a 'variant of interest' by the World Health Organisation. It's called eg5 -- or Erris -- and countries affected so far include China, the US and the UK. Stuart Turville is a virologist at the Kirby Institute at UNSW, he says despite the low number of cases, vulnerable Australians still need to be cautious.

Transcript

00:00 There are not a lot of reported cases of ERIS or EG5.1.

00:08 We're looking close to around about 100 that have been detected

00:13 in the community by whole genome sequencing.

00:16 There are a number of other variants, XBB1.5, XBB1.16,

00:23 and also the parent of EG5.1, XBB1.9 and other derivatives.

00:28 So it does represent a mix where it's approximately 2% of that mix.

00:33 So it's at very low numbers and it has been very low numbers

00:35 for some time in Australia.

00:37 But the WHO has named it a variant of interest.

00:41 What exactly does that mean and how significant is that?

00:45 Yeah, look, there have been some studies.

00:47 We've worked with a really bright team at Karolinska Institute

00:51 whereby they've got algorithms to look at the growth of variants

00:54 and this particular variant came up on their radar in June actually.

00:58 So the competitive advantage of it against other variants was highlighted.

01:03 We picked it up in collaboration with the whole genome sequencing teams

01:07 that they're based at at WestMed at ICPMR.

01:11 And we actually looked at the phenotypic characterisation of it

01:14 very, very early on when it entered Australia.

01:16 And what we observe, and it's kind of consistent with what's being seen

01:19 worldwide and also in the United States, is that there is just

01:23 an iterative change in the outside of the virus called the spike

01:26 and that just gives it a better ability and more of a competitive edge

01:30 to transmit in the presence of what we call neutralising antibodies,

01:34 that antibodies that block the virus that are produced

01:38 when you get vaccinated or vaccinated and when you're infected.

01:41 So what does this mean then for people who think that they are

01:44 fully vaccinated now?

01:48 Look, I think in the context of we looked at cohorts,

01:50 we looked at a lot of Australian cohorts and we've looked at antibodies

01:53 across those cohorts.

01:54 There's the VIM cohort that we've worked with to look at vaccine responses

01:58 and vaccine responses close to infection.

02:00 So even people that have waned from a third dose of the vaccine

02:03 do have antibody coverage.

02:05 Those who have had a booster recently, so Moderna BA1,

02:09 have got really good coverage to this variant.

02:11 So what we're seeing is that although it might have a competitive edge

02:14 and it might supplant another variant, it's very much more of the same

02:18 compared to what we've observed at the beginning of the year

02:20 with XBP1.5.

02:22 So should vulnerable people though still be wary, take precautions?

02:27 Yeah, look, I think people that are in those situations,

02:30 you know, they need to - yes, they need to be careful.

02:32 I think the numbers are fortunately low in Australia at the moment

02:36 so we are fortunate.

02:37 But, you know, I think it's obviously people in those situations

02:40 need to be vigilant.

02:42 In terms of how it enters the body and how it attaches and does things

02:45 in cells, it's very similar to what variants we've seen

02:48 at the beginning of the year.

02:49 So we've got to see it along the lines of that trajectory.

02:52 Okay.

02:53 Are there strains or variants that you're looking at, Stuart,

02:56 which could become a problem?

02:58 Look, there are.

02:59 There are ones beyond AG5.1 that we're looking at that have locked

03:03 in even more changes and I think that's the importance

03:05 of actually continuing to monitor this virus as we move forward

03:08 and how we manage it pragmatically.

03:10 So I think it's important to support teams that continue

03:13 to do a whole genome sequencing and still doing a brilliant job

03:16 and also to support teams that actually work alongside them

03:19 like my team and others to actually give us the first kind

03:22 of snapshot of these variants as they enter the community.

03:24 So we are still looking at them.

03:26 There's a few on the horizon that we are looking at.

03:28 But at the moment it still looks more of the same in the context

03:32 of, you know, slight iterative gains.

03:35 We're not talking large jumps like we saw with like delta-dolmicron

03:39 or even at the back of last year where we saw changes

03:42 from BA5 to XBP1.5.

03:45 So I think, you know, what we're observing, there are positive

03:48 signs that there's quite a bit of pressure on the virus just

03:52 by the sheer fact that there's quite a large amount of, you know,

03:56 immunity in the community, which is a good thing.

03:58 And what's happening finally with ARIS cases and infections

04:01 in other parts of the world, Stuart, places like China,

04:04 the US and the UK?

04:05 And could we follow that path as time goes on?

04:09 Yeah, look, it's a very good question.

04:11 I think we need to be mindful that every country has had

04:14 its own unique experience, especially with COVID,

04:16 and that sets up an immune landscape.

04:18 It's very unique to each territory.

04:20 I think if we were talking this time late last year,

04:23 we'd be talking about BQ1.1 and the US and that dominating

04:29 in the US, but that variant never dominated in Australia.

04:32 What we had dominance in was a variant called - two variants,

04:35 actually, called XBF and BR2.1.

04:37 So - and even if we look at New Zealand, there's a variant

04:40 dominating called XPC1.3.

04:42 So I think that, you know, although we take cues from different

04:45 parts of the world, sometimes the trajectory and what we see

04:48 in our own country is very unique, and we need to be mindful of that.

04:51 But that said, they're very similar in the context

04:55 of what's in the US and what we have in Australia.

04:58 So we can obviously observe what's happening there

05:01 and to some extent have confidence of how it will play out in Australia.

05:04 - Stuart Turfill, thank you so much.

05:06 - Pleasure. Thanks.

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05:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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