The Centre for Medical Genomics said Thailand has one case of XBB.1.16.1.1 or "FU.1", the latest Covid-19 sub-variant that is 50% more transmissible than XBB.1.16.
Ramathibodi Hospital's Centre for Medical Genomics on Wednesday posted on its Facebook page that the Omicron variant is consistently mutating into new sub-variants despite the global number of Covid-19 cases dropping.
The dominant Omicron sub-variants are XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 and XBB.1.9.1.
The centre said the sub-variants XBB.1.16 and XBB.1.9.1 have become the dominant strains in the world, including in Singapore and Thailand. The centre collected genomic codes from Covid-19 patients in Thailand and the global genomic database Gisaid from April 15-May 15.
It found that 93.5% of the Omicron cases in Thailand are of the XBB sub-variant, with 19% XBB.1.16, 10% XBB.1.5 and 8.4% XBB.1.9.1.
XBB.1.16 was found in 9,003 Covid-19 cases globally, while 139 cases were found in Thailand. Its sub-lineage, XBB.1.16.1, was found in 2,714 cases worldwide and 26 cases in Thailand. XBB.1.16.2 was found in 666 cases globally 25 in Thailand.
XBB.1.16.3 was found in 175 cases worldwide while five cases were found in Thailand.
FU.1 was found to be widespread in Shanghai while 122 people worldwide were reported to be infected. The FU.2 sub-variant was found in 149 cases globally.
In Thailand, one case of FU.1 has been detected but none for FU.2. FU.1 is 50% more transmissible than XBB.1.16, the centre wrote.
The centre said the Omicron sub-lineages XBB.1.9.1 and FL are widespread and will be the dominant sub-variants in the future.
