MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reported the detection of the first case of Omicron subvariant XBF in the country.
Latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report released by the DOH also showed additional two cases of Omicron subvariant XBB 1.5., dubbed the most transmissible COVID-19 subvariant so far.
The DOH noted that the XBF was detected from a sample collected in December 2022 and sequenced on Jan. 28, 2023.
According to the DOH, XBF is a recombinant sublineage of BA.5.2.3 and CJ.1 (BA.2.75.3 sublineage), which had been associated with recent case increases in Australia and Sweden.
“However, currently available evidence for XBF does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant,” DOH noted.
The health department stressed that the XBF subvariant is still reported under Omicron by the WHO and will remain classified as such until sufficient evidence arises showing that the virus’ characteristics are significantly different.
Out of 69 samples sequenced from Feb. 7 to 9, 26 were classified as XBB (including 2 cases classified as XBB.1.5), 10 as BA.2.3.20, three as BA.5 (including one case classified as BQ.1), two as BA.2.75, one XBC and 20 other Omicron sublineages.
Meanwhile, the DOH allayed fears over the Marburg virus disease outbreak declared early this month in Equatorial Guinea.
“At present, there is no current risk assessment provided by the World Health Organization, and the global risk of the Marburg virus disease is low,” DOH in a statement.
Marburg virus is in the same virus family that causes Ebola, with both known to cause severe viral hemorrhagic fever in humans.
But the DOH reminded the public to continue adhering to minimum public health protocols to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
It gave assurance that it is closely monitoring emerging diseases globally.