The B.1.1.529 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is attracting frantic attention worldwide due to the risk that the Covid-19 pandemic will gather new and deadly effect around the world.
One of the intriguing features of the B.1.1.529 variant is that it has many mutations not seen in previous SARS-CoV-2 variants.
How could a SARS-CoV-2 variant have arisen which is so different?
There are three broad possibilities widely discussed:
- B.1.1.529 circulated in a small, isolated population before reaching Gauteng
- B.1.1.529 arose in a patient chronically infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, perhaps a person with inadequately treated HIV infection
- B.1.1.529 arose in an animal reservoir, as yet unidentified, with recent transmission to humans
However, there is a fourth possibility that merits careful consideration.
Did B.1.1.529 ("Omicron") escape from a Bio Safety Level 4 (BSL4) facility in Johannesburg?
Let me explain why the question arises.
B.1.1.529 is exploding in Gauteng, South Africa.
Gauteng includes the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Johannesburg includes a facility which has Bio Safety Level 4 (BSL4) facilities.
Is it possible that B.1.1.529 ("Omicron") is spreading in Gauteng because of a leak from the BSL4 facility in Johannesburg?
The BSL4 facility at the Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases appears to be located in Sandringham, a suburb of Johannesburg north of the city centre.
A few kilometres away is Pretoria the centre of Tshwane where B.1.1.529 ("Omicron") is growing exponentially.
The possibility exists that B.1.1.529 ("Omicron") might have arisen from the BSL4 facility at the Emerging Zoonotic and and Parasitic Diseases.
That is a possibility that must be examined, although the more pressing issue is to prevent the B.1.1.529 which is presently largely confined to Gauteng become a worldwide deadly tsunami of infection.
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