The new NB.1.8.1 strain of Covid has been detected in Northern Ireland and, while some of its symptoms include those of previous strains, others are more unusual, such as heartburn
A new strain of the virus that cause COVID has been detected.
The Public Health Agency says at least seven people have been diagnosed with the NB.1.8.1 strain of coronavirus, all in Northern Ireland. It has multiple symptoms, including some which differ from the typical ones seen with other strains.
“Common symptoms include sore throat, fatigue, fever, mild cough, muscle aches and nasal congestion. Gastrointestinal symptoms may also occur in some cases,” Dr Lara Herrero, Associate professor and virology research leader at Griffith University in Australia said.
Gastrointestinal symptoms can include abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation and heartburn. The Mirror has listed the full known symptoms below.
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NB.1.8.1 has been officially designated a “variant under monitoring” by the World Health Organisation (WHO) due to its rapid rise and the potential to evade immunity from previous infections or vaccines.
The full list of symptoms are;
- a high temperature or shivering (chills) – a high temperature means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
- a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
- feeling tired or exhausted
- feeling sick or being sick
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NB.1.8.1 already the dominant strain in Hong Kong and China, and has been detected in Australia, the US and across popular holiday destinations including Egypt, Thailand and the Maldives, reports Daily Star.
According to WHO data, the strain has jumped from 2.5% to 10.7% of submitted global sequences in just four weeks, which has prompted growing international concern. A WHO spokesperson said: “SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve, and between January and May 2025, there were shifts in global SARS-CoV-2 variant dynamics. At the beginning of the year, the most prevalent variant tracked by WHO at the global level was XEC, followed by KP.3.1.1.
“In February, circulation of XEC began to decline while that of LP.8.1 increased, with the latter becoming the most detected variant in mid-March. Since mid-April, the circulation of LP.8.1 has been slightly declining as NB.1.8.1 is increasingly being detected.” Experts say NB.1.8.1 carries multiple mutations that “may infect cells more efficiently than earlier strains”.
Dr Lara Herrero explained: “It’s possible a person infected with NB.1.8.1 may be more likely to pass the virus on to someone else, compared to earlier variants. The evidence so far suggests NB.1.8.1 may spread more easily and may partially sidestep immunity from prior infections or vaccination. These factors could explain its rise in sequencing data.
“But importantly, the WHO has not yet observed any evidence it causes more severe disease compared to other variants. Reports suggest symptoms of NB.1.8.1 should align closely with other Omicron subvariants.”