A combination of the Delta and Omicron variant dubbed “Deltacron” has been identified by scientists at the University of Cyprus. For Professor Arnaud Fontanet of the Institut Pasteur, this is a “contamination error” in the laboratory to be “discarded”.
[Mise à jour le 10 janvier 2022 à 19h40] After the Delta variant and the Omicron variant, here is the Deltacron. Fake news or a new variant of the coronavirus to watch closely? For Professor Arnaud Fontanet of the Institut Pasteur, guest on BFM-TV on January 10, this is a “contamination error” at “dismiss”.
What is Deltacron?
Friday January 7, Leondios Kostrikis, professor of the Department of Biological Sciences of the University of Cyprus, announces the discovery of a new variant considered to be a combination of the Delta variant and the Omicron variant which he calls “Deltacron”. With his team, they identified 25 Deltacron cases whose sequences were sent to the Gisaid international database on January 7.
Should we be worried?
“We will see in the future if this strain is more pathological or more contagious or if it will prevail” on Delta and Omicron, said Leondios Kostrikis on the English site Bloomberg. For Professor Arnaud Fontanet, guest of BFM-TV on January 10, this is a “contamination error” (in the laboratory, editor’s note) at “dismiss”. An opinion shared by the virologist Tom Peacock from Imperial College London on Twitter: “Many reports of Omicron sequences carry Delta-like mutations (e.g. P681R or L452R). Cypriot ‘Deltacron’ sequences appear to be quite clearly contamination. There’s no clear signal yet of anything real or nasty“. He also recalls that researchers in Japan demonstrated in October 2021 a recombination of the Alpha and Delta variants. On Saturday January 8, Cyprus Health Minister Michael Hadjipantela said Deltacron was not to be feared “since it was a combination of two mutations that already existed in Cyprus” reports the site In-Cyprus.com. Dr Krutika Kuppalli of the World Health Organization (WHO) bluntly indicated on Twitter on January 9 that “there is no Deltacron” : “Omicron and Delta did not form a super variant. This is likely laboratory contamination of Omicron fragments in a Delta sample.”