Europe , BA 5 and monkeypox next Dr. John Campbell

12th May , ECDC reclassified omicron subvariants , BA.4 and BA.5 as VOCs First detected in South Africa in January and February 2022 Now dominant in SA Both lineages contain L452R , F486V , and R493Q in the spike receptor binding domain Significant change in antigenic properties of BA.4 and BA.5 compared to BA.1 and BA.2 Portugal BA.5 , increasing trend in variant proportions With increase in case numbers and test positivity rate Portuguese National Institute of Health BA.5 already accounted for ~ 37 % of positive cases as of 8 May Daily growth advantage for BA.5 over BA.2 is 13 %