A strain of coronavirus that combines the delta and omicron variants has been found in 25 COVID cases in Cyprus, researcher Leondios Kostrikis said in a recent interview.  

“There are currently omicron and delta co-infections and we found this strain that is a combination of these two,” Kostrikis, professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus and head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology, told Sigma TV on Friday.

Omicron-like genetic signatures were found within the delta genomes in the strain, earning it the name ‘Deltacron’, Kostrikis said, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

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The team of researchers identified 25 of these cases and found that the relative frequency of the combined infection was more in hospitalised COVID patients. On January 7, the genome sequences of the cases were sent to GISAID, the database that tracks the virus. 

“We will see in the future if this strain is more pathological or more contagious or if it will prevail” over delta and omicron, Kostrikis said.

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“We have found a significant number of mutations only previously found in Omicron cases, which is different from other variants as it has 30 mutations. Ten of these were identified in these samples taken in Cyprus”, the researcher informed, according to Cyprus Mail, a local English daily.

“The groundbreaking research and findings of Dr Kostrikis’ team make us proud of our scientists as this research puts Cyprus on the international map when it comes to health matters,” Cyprus Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said.

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Responding to the news of the discovery of ‘Delticron’, experts have pointed out on social media that it may not be a ‘new variant’, and there not be a reason to worry just yet. 

Virologist Tom Peacock tweeted, “Although a subset of these might end up being real, the vast majority will most likely turn out to be contamination or coinfection. No clear signals of anything real or nasty happening.”

“The Cypriot ‘Deltacron’ sequences reported by several large media outlets look to be quite clearly contamination – they do not cluster on a phylogenetic tree and have a whole Artic primer sequencing amplicon of Omicron in an otherwise Delta backbone,” he wrote. 

“Recombinants are definitely worth keeping an eye on and almost definitely will eventually be found, this particular example is almost definitely contamination though,” he added.

Earlier in December, Dr Paul Burton, chief medical officer at Moderna, had warned of a possibility of a new super-variant if Omicron and Delta infect someone at the same time. If these also infect the same cell, they may be able to swap DNA and combine to make a new version of the virus, he said, according to a Daily Mail report. 

The recent discovery comes as the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic fuelled by omicron. It must be noted, however, that the World Health Organisation hasn’t officially recognized the variant.