AFTER more than three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO officially ended the global public health emergency on May 5 2023.
In our elation, we threw caution to the wind; but is it over?
WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that led to the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in China in 2019, had not been fully defeated.
It continued to circulate and that the emergence of new and more dangerous variants were still anticipated around the world.
Currently, EG.5 or ‘Eris’, is one of three variants on WHO’s watchlist.
The other two are XBB.1.5, which is mainly circulating in Europe and the Americas, and XBB.1.6, which is predominant in Asia
‘Eris’ is the Greek goddess of strife and discord.
She possesses a unique array of attributes that define her character.
‘Discordia’ is her Roman counterpart.
In Greco-Roman mythology, these captivating figures represent chaos, conflict and rivalry; embodying the disruptive forces that shatter harmony and ignite discord.
Eris is said to be the daughter of Nyx, the primordial goddess of the night.
In some versions, she is associated with Ares, the god of war and her brother.
Eris played a pivotal role in the ancient Greek mythological tale of the Golden Apple inscribed with: ‘For the most beautiful’, which sparked a fierce competition among the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite.
In this legendary tale, Eris, embodying discord and rivalry, strategically threw the golden apple into the midst of the goddesses during a banquet.
The apple became a symbol of beauty and power, destined to be claimed by the most deserving.
Hera, Athena and Aphrodite became locked in a fierce contest, each pleading for the golden apple to be awarded to her.
Prometheus, the Titan of foresight, refused to judge the competition, thereby appointing Paris of Troy as the ultimate decision maker.
Paris, swayed by Aphrodite’s promise of possessing the most beautiful woman in the world, chose her as the winner.
This choice set in motion a chain of events that ultimately led to the outbreak of the Trojan War.
Eris’s act of tossing the golden apple was a catalyst for chaos and conflict, revealing the underlying tensions and rivalries among the gods and goddesses.
The ensuing Trojan War became an enduring tale of heroism, tragedy and the consequences of discord.
Moreover, Eris’s association with war, battles and chaos extends beyond the mythological realm.
Her influence seeped into the historical narratives of ancient Greece, serving as a reminder of the profound impact of rivalry and disharmony on human affairs.
As the embodiment of strife and discord, she fuels confrontations and sparks tension among gods and mortals alike.
Her presence is an unsettling force, striving to upset the balance and harmony carefully maintained by other deities.
Eris’s affiliation with war, battles and chaos is deeply rooted in her essence as the goddess of strife.
She is known to incite conflict and foster disagreements wherever she goes.
Eris stands as the driving force behind familial feuds, political disputes and military clashes.
Her influence permeates the realm of mortal existence, as she contributes to the chaos and discord that shape human history.
The classic fairy-tale ‘Sleeping Beauty’ is partly inspired by Eris’s role in the wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Like Eris, a malevolent fairy curses a princess after not being invited to the princess’s christening.
Eris is also the name of one of the largest dwarf planets in our solar system
Today, Eris is a descendant of a group of coronavirus strains labelled XBB.
These are all offshoots of the omicron variant, which emerged in late 2021, as a sub-variant of the omicron variant, specifically XBB.1.9.2.
Omicron’s sub-variants are considered to be especially efficient spreaders of the disease, and while scientists are still learning about XBB.1.5, they say it is the most transmissible strain of the virus to date.
The original strain of omicron was more transmissible than delta was.
One explanation was that, more than 30 of omicron’s mutations are on the virus’s spike protein, the part that attaches to human cells, and several of those are believed to increase the probability of infection.
Eris was first identified in China in February 2023 and has since spread to over 50 countries.
In the week ending July 23, according to WHO, EG.5 made up an estimated 17,4 percent of global cases; up from 7,6 percent four weeks earlier.
It is spreading quickly in the US, where it recently became the most common strain, according to estimates by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The variant which has been designated the letter ‘E’ and goes by the name EG.5 or Eris, was classified by WHO as a ‘variant of interest’ (VoI), indicating that it should be more closely watched because of mutations that might make it more contagious or severe due its ability to ‘immune escape’.
According to WHO: “Although it’s growing in prevalence in comparison with other strains and appears to be better at evading the body’s immune defences, there’s no evidence it causes more severe disease than other versions of the coronavirus.
Its additional spike mutation may explain why it can escape the human immune system’s response.”
There have been a number of prominent variants, including alpha, beta, delta and omicron.
Since Eris is closely related to the XBB family, existing vaccines and treatments are expected to remain effective against it.
This includes updated booster shots targeting those strains that are expected to soon emerge.
As variants can emerge anywhere and at any time, in May 2021, WHO began using the Greek alphabet to make it easier for people to keep track of variants without linking their names to the places where they were first identified.
In accordance with WHO best practices for naming new diseases, some letters may not be used if they cause confusion in major languages or stigmatise certain groups.
‘Nu’ and ‘Xi’ have not been assigned to a variant because ‘Nu’ is too easily confused with ‘new’, and ‘Xi’ is a common last name in China and the Far East. Further, WHO labels do not replace the existing scientific names of the variants which convey important scientific information to researchers and scientists.
Although new variants are an expected part of the evolution of viruses, monitoring each one that surfaces is essential in ensuring we are globally prepared.
This is especially true if a new variant is more aggressive, highly transmissible, vaccine-resistant and able to cause more severe disease compared to the original strain of the virus.
As with all viruses, SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was expected to continue to evolve as long as it continues to spread.
The more the virus spread, the more pressure there was for the virus to change.
So, the best way to prevent more variants from emerging is to stop the spread of the virus.
Dr Michelina Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher, industrial design consultant and is a published author in her field.
For views and comments, email: linamanucci@gmail.com
