United States: Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are monitoring the expansion of the COVID-19 LB.1 variant as it is beginning to trail KP.3.
More about the news
When it came to the projections of the COVID-19 variants that the CDC’s Nowcast data tracker provided, the following were the projections. These projections were provided when the data was obtained from June 9 to June 22.
The KP.3 variant took thirty-three percent of the total loads recorded, followed by KP.2 at 20.8 percent. The new variant LB.1 had 17.5 percent infections, and JN.1, who had been a previous ring leader since 2023, had a mere 1.6 percent positive cases.
Since the information was made public that the LB.1 variant that is increasing in the country, the CDC follows the rate of infection of the particular variant.

What more are the experts stating?
According to a CDC Spokesperson, Dave Daigle, “We can tell you that the variant LB.1 has the potential to infect some people more easily based on a single deletion in a spike protein,” as USA Today reported.
Daigle also said that the current spike of the LB.1 variant is similar to the ones observed in JN.1 lineages. Rosa Norman of the CDC responded to the issue, saying that JN.1 only recorded a single increase different from the KP.3 variant, a sub-lineage of the JN.1, which experienced two-time changes in spike.
Norman said, “One of the two changes in the spike was observed in recent earlier lineages, including XBB.1.5 lineages, which were dominant throughout 2023 and the basis for the 2023–2024 vaccine formulation,” and “The second of the two changes were observed in some viruses circulating in fall 2021, but not since then.”
More about LB.1 variant
According to USA Today reports, the LB.1 variant is the new COVID-19 variant prevailing in the US.
Up to this moment, there has been only limited information available with the CDC which supported that the LB.1 variant could pose a serious threat.
Daigle said, “There is currently no evidence that LB.1 causes more severe disease.”
The CDC has not said whether LB.1 has its own unique symptoms. Nevertheless, the government agency offers a brief overview of the coronavirus’ primary symptoms on its website.
Symptoms are expected to manifest between the two-day duration to two weeks from the point of contact with the virus and may differ in their intensity as avowed by the US Today reports.
These are some of the symptoms of COVID-19:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- Loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
The CDC said you should seek medical attention if you have the following symptoms:
- Trouble breathing
- Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
- New confusion
- Inability to wake or stay awake
- Pale, gray, or blue-colored skin, lips, or nail beds
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