WHO charts its rapid global JN.1 Covid variant spread
N.1 has been found in many countries worldwide, including India, China and the United States.
The risk to the public is currently low, and current vaccines continue to offer protection, the WHO says.
But it warns Covid and other infections could rise this winter.
Respiratory viruses such as flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and childhood pneumonia are also rising in the Northern Hemisphere.
The virus which causes COVID-19 is constantly changing over time, and sometimes this leads to new variants developing.
Omicron has been the globally dominant variant for some time.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently tracking a number of variants of interest linked to Omicron - including JN.1 - although none of them are deemed to be concerning.
JN.1 is currently the fastest-growing variant in the United States, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, accounting for 15 to 29% of infections.
The UK Health Security Agency said JN.1 currently made up around 7% of positive Covid tests analysed in a lab and it would continue to monitor all available data on this and other variants.
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