A combination of the Delta and Omicron variant called “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 “rule out”.
[Mise à jour le 10 janvier 2022 à 19h40] After the Delta variant and the Omicron variant, here is the Deltacron. A fake news or a new variant of the coronavirus to watch closely? For Professor Arnaud Fontanet from the Institut Pasteur, invited to BFM-TV on January 10, this is a “contamination error” at “to discard”.
What is the Deltacron?
On Friday January 7, Leondios Kostrikis, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cyprus, announced the discovery of a new variant considered to be a combination of the Delta variant and the Omicron variant, which he called “Deltacron”. Together with his team, they identified 25 cases of Deltacron whose sequences were sent to the international Gisaid 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 “to discard”. An opinion shared by the virologist Tom peacock from Imperial College London on Twitter: “Many of the Omicron sequence reports carry Delta-like mutations (eg P681R or L452R). The Cypriot” Deltacron “sequences appear to be quite clearly a contamination. There is still no clear signal of anything real or mean“. He also recalls that researchers in Japan demonstrated in October 2021 a recombination of the Alpha and Delta variants. On Saturday 8 January 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) has clearly indicated on Twitter 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 sample from Delta.”