First case of COVID-19 JN.1 strain found in Tunisia

The first case of the new COVID-19 JN.1 strain has been confirmed in Tunisia.  The detection came from 60 samples analyzed at the Charles Nicolle Hospital in Tunis and the National Pharmacovigilance Centre (CNPV).

Riadh Daghfous, the CNPV Director General and member of the Scientific Committee to Combat Coronavirus, made this announcement.

According to Daghfous, the emergence of the JN.1 strain in Tunisia was anticipated, given that it currently constitutes 75% of the most prevalent strains found in France and various European countries, spreading rapidly across regions.

Despite its prevalence, Daghfous reassured the public that the symptoms associated with the JN.1 strain, including fever, cough, runny nose, diarrhoea, asthenia, and headache, are not severe and do not raise significant concerns, urging the public to take necessary precautions to curb the spread of this variant.

While the WHO has acknowledged the rapid increase in the prevalence of the JN.1 strain worldwide, the current evaluation of the public health risk associated with this variant is considered low at the global level.