WHO experts and others have doubts about "Delta Kerong", saying that it may be caused by laboratory contamination

A few days ago, Cypriot scientists said that they found a new variant of the new coronavirus that combines Delta and Aumequeron, two mutant strains of the new coronavirus, and named it "Delta Kerong". However, both WHO experts and virologists say the situation may be due to laboratory contamination.

According to the US "Newsweek" reported on January 10, virologist Krista Queen said in an interview that it is unlikely that there will be "Delta Croon". Tom Peacock, an infectious disease scientist at Imperial College London, said laboratory contamination led to the emergence of "Delta Kerong" because it did not meet the criteria for the new variant.

Krutika Kuppalli, a member of the WHO's new crown team, said on personal social media on the 10th that it is likely that the specimen of Riedelta in the laboratory mixed with fragments of Omicron. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical director of WHO's health emergency project, said the appearance of "Delta Kerkjong" was likely to be contaminated by the laboratory during the sequencing process, and she called for the name "Delta Kerkron" not to be used again.

According to Bloomberg on January 8, Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus and head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology, said that a mutant strain "Delta Kerong" has emerged in Cyprus. He said the strain was genetically closer to Delta, but had a large number of variants specific to Omikeron.