Data released by the Department of Health (DOH) showed that there have been two cases of the sublineage of the BA.2.75 subvariant detected in the latest genome surveillance run of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).
“As of current date, two BN.1 cases have been detected in the country, and the cases are currently reported under Omicron BA.2.75,” said the DOH.
It noted how the BN.1 is currently classified as a variant under monitoring (VUM) due to its increasing prevalence globally and mutations that may lead to enhanced immune evasion.
However, the DOH said that currently available evidence for BN.1 does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant.
“Currently, the subvariant is still reported under BA.2.75 by the World Health Organization, and will remain classified under Omicron until sufficient evidence arises showing that the virus characteristics are significantly different from Omicron,” explained the DOH.
The BN.1 variant was first identified in late July and is believed to be a descendant of the “stealth Omicron.”
It has already been detected in the United States, United Kingdom, Austria, Australia and India.
Aside from the BN.1, the latest PGC run also detected 145 cases of Omicron BA.2.3.20; 1 case of BA.4; 76 cases of BA.5; 72 cases of XBB; 8 cases of XBC; and 40 cases tagged as other Omicron subvariants.
The latest run involved a total of 351 samples sequenced by the PGC from December 19 to 22. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)