Nigeria confirms its Omicron Covid first case and announced it in October. It was there weeks before South Africa.
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control announced today that three Omicron cases have been identified in travelers who came from South Africa to Nigeria in the last week.
Director Dr Ifedayo Adetifa said that retroactive testing of Covid samples taken in the past weeks has identified an additional case of Omicron back in October.
Omicron was the ‘variant in concern’ of the WHO. It is thought to be the most infectious form of Covid and had been circulating for many weeks prior to being discovered.
Just a few days ago, Dutch health authorities reported that they found Omicron bacteria in an Omicron sample taken from a patient on November 19. This was just four days before South Africa issued the alert.
Nigeria reports its first Omicron-related cases to South Africa passengers. However, retroactive testing has also detected a case back in October
The Nigerian Omicron infection would have been confirmed if it was confirmed. This will rewrite the history of this variant’s origins.
However, it does not necessarily mean the variant emerged in Nigeria because it is unclear how or why the sample was collected and Dr Adetifa did not give details.
Nigeria – in western Africa – extensively tests travellers into and out of the country, meaning it is possible the case was imported from overseas.
It had been thought that this variant was found in South Africa first. The South African scientists discovered it in Botswana in November.
Three Nigerians were the victims of recent cases. They had all been South African travelers who had completed a Day 2 PCR testing, and samples from within the week.
The exact date of collection is not known. Nigeria claimed that efforts are being made to identify and track the individual.
After two Canadians returned from Nigeria last week, who tested positive for the virus, analysts suspected that the virus had already spread to Nigeria.
Canada had confirmed the pair, but experts warn that Omicron may have circulated elsewhere.
‘I think it’s fair to say that this variant probably emerged weeks or even months ago,’ infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch said last week.
“And, by the moment you begin identifying it it’s often pretty widespread, especially for very contagious respiratory virus infections like this.”
The RIVM institute of health in the Netherlands stated that the first case was found in November 19th and November 23rd, respectively. However, they did not reveal how or why.
This further supports the idea that Omicron circulated widely long before being first reported. It also lends credibility to the notion that Covid’s original copy could have been unnoticed for several weeks or even months prior to China reporting it.
Omicron, the most mutant form of Covid that has been discovered so far, is also the most infectious. However data are limited and questions remain about its potential to cause more serious forms of disease.
Researchers are still unsure of much concerning the variant, which scientists believe is the most advanced form yet discovered by Covid.
Many mutations point to the possibility that this variant could be even more infective than the Delta strain.
South Africa’s data, which shows that Omicron has been more prevalent, suggests Omicron may be even more contagious.
There are still many questions, such as whether Omicron is more severe than others.
Numerous health professionals, including one of the candidates for Germany’s next minister of health, suggested Omicron may be a blessing, if Omicron is found to cause less severe infections.
Because it could out-compete and even replace deadly Delta strain while leaving fewer people in the hospital.
Omicron-related deaths have not yet been reported by WHO, although information is only in an early stage and UN bodies have urged caution.
The Leipzig, an eastern German city, reported Tuesday that they have confirmed an infected man with the omicron virus in a 39 year-old male. This person had never traveled abroad or had contact with someone who has been infected.
Leipzig can be found in the eastern German state of Saxony. This region currently boasts one of Germany’s highest total coronavirus infection rates.
On Tuesday, France and Japan announced the first instances of this new variant.
French authorities have confirmed that it is present on the French island of Reunion in Indian Ocean.
Patrick Mavingui is a microbiologist in the island’s infectious disease research center. He said that the individual who tested positive was a 53 year-old man, who had visited Mozambique, South Africa, and then returned to Reunion.
The man was taken into quarantine. Mavingui stated that he is experiencing muscle pain and fatigue.
Chair of South African Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee said that patients with Omicron were experiencing milder and more subtle symptoms. These included tiredness, headaches, and muscle aches. However, none of them reported symptoms such as a loss in smell or taste or breathing problems.
Japan confirmed its first case in the same day that it banned foreigners from entering as an emergency measure against this variant. It was a Namibian tourist.
According to a government spokesperson, the patient was a 30-year-old man who arrived at Narita Airport on Sunday. He had positive results and was taken into isolation.
On Tuesday, there were still travel bans.
Cambodia has barred travel from 10 African countries to Cambodia, in response to the risk of the variant.
This move was made just 2 weeks after Cambodia opened its borders for fully-vaccinated travellers.
Although it strongly opposed closing the borders, WHO stressed that scientists continue to search for evidence and countries need to speed up vaccinations.
WHO stated that there were ‘considerable uncertainties” about the Omicron variant. It said that preliminary evidence suggests that there are mutations in the variant that can help it spread more easily from one person to the next.
Doctors in South Africa report that patients have only mild to moderate symptoms despite the worldwide concern.
However, they caution that this is still early. Most of the cases in new patients are younger people. They generally don’t get as sick as those who have been treated with Covid-19 for a long time.