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Another Delta sub lineage detected in Sri Lanka
No much of difference to parent Delta variant
Another sub lineage of Delta variant has been detected in Sri Lanka, Director of the Department of Immunology & Molecular Medicine at Sri Jayewardenepura Dr. Chandima Jeewandara said today.
Accordingly, he said the new sub lineage has been named as B.1.617.2.104.
This is in addition to B.1.617.2.28 sub lineage which was detected earlier in the country.
"Therefore, the delta variants in Sri Lanka now have two unique sub lineages that originated in Sri Lanka," he added.
Addressing the media, he said cases of sub lineage B.1.617.2.104 have been predominantly seen in North, North-central provinces and some parts of the Southern Province while the sub lineage B.1.617.2.28 is seen in the Western Province.
Talking about the transmissibility and clinical symptoms of these sub lineages, Dr. Jeewandara said they don’t expect much of a difference compared to the parent Delta variant.
“Though there are a few mutations different to the parent mutation, we don’t expect any major changes to the transmissibility and the clinical symptoms,” he highlighted.
“As we don’t have laboratory facility to further test the behaviour on these lineages, we have sent B.1.617.2.28 lineage virus to Hong Kong for further investigations,” he added.
He also stated that a total of 479 cases of B.1.617.2.28 lineage have been reported so far while 288 cases of B.1.617.2.104 lineage have been so far detected in Sri Lanka.
Moreover, Dr Jeewandara said Sri Lanka now has three SARS-CoV-2 variants that originated in Sri Lanka; the first one was B.411, which is a lineage of the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 virus. (Sheain Fernandopulle)
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