XEC variant of COVID-19 spreading throughout US. What you need to know

A new variant of COVID-19 is growing in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Recent CDC data shows that KP.3.1.1 remains the dominant COVID-19 variant in the United States, accounting for nearly 60% of positive cases, but the XEC variant is not far behind.

"CDC is monitoring the XEC variant," Rosa Norman, a CDC spokesperson told USA TODAY. "XEC is the proposed name of a recombinant, or hybrid, of the closely related Omicron lineages KS.1.1 and KP.3.3."

The variant, which first appeared in Berlin in late June, has increasingly seen hundreds of cases in Germany, France, Denmark and the Netherlands, according to a report by Australia-based data integration specialist Mike Honey.

The CDC's Nowcast data tracker, which displays COVID-19 estimates and projections for two-week periods, reflected that the KP.3.1.1 variant accounted for 57.2% of positive infections, followed by XEC at 10.7% in the two weeks starting on Sept. 29 and ending on Oct. 12.

Here is what you need to know about the XEC variant and the latest CDC data.

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What are the most dominant variants that are circulating in the United States?

The CDC's Nowcast data tracker shows that the following strains are in the top 10 of most dominant variant proportions:

Can't see the table? Click here to view it. 

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COVID-19 Current Wastewater Viral Activity Levels Map

CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System tests and monitors wastewater for viruses and bacteria so communities can act quickly to prevent the spread of infections. Wastewater data can provide:

• A community-level perspective on what diseases are circulating locally

• An early warning that levels of infections are increasing or decreasing in a community

• An efficient, easy approach that doesn’t require visiting a doctor or getting tested for an infectious disease

• Data for communities where patients aren’t always able to get tested for infectious diseases.

The current wastewater viral activity level for COVID-19 in Delaware is low. The state's last high-level reading was Aug. 24.

Delaware COVID-19 numbers

COVID-19 cases in Delaware have been on the rise in the last four weeks, according to the Delaware Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. There were 259 cases between Sept. 29 and Oct. 5 or 26.4 per 100,000 people.

New Castle County had the most cases in the state with 129 or 22.7 per 100,000 people. Kent County had 63 cases or 35 for every 100,000 people. Sussex County had 62 or 26.5 per 100,000 people. There were five unknown cases in the state.

This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: COVID-19 variant XEC spreading in United States