What we know about the contagious COVID-19 variants XEC and MV.1

After a surge in COVID-19 cases this summer, a new variant is becoming more commonly transmitted as fall flu season approaches.

Here's what you need to know as you plan your vacation trip and determine your next vaccinations.

COVID transmission in recent months

“FLiRT,” a family of different variants — including KP.2, JN1.7 and all other variants beginning with KP or JN — that appear to have independently picked up the same set of mutations, was the most prevalent COVID variant this summer, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, before KP.3.1.1, known as deFLuQE, took over.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Nowcast tracker shows that deFluQE was responsible for more than half of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S. as of Sept. 14, but experts are now turning their attention to the XEC and MV.1 variants, which they believe will be the next dominant strains.

What is the XEC COVID variant?

According to Mike Honey, a data integration specialist, XEC was first discovered in Germany in June and has since been spotted in the US, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Canada and the UK.

Newsweek reports that XEC is a rearrangement of the two “little discussed” existing variants KP.3.3 and KS.1.1. KP.3..3 belongs to the FLiRT variant group along with the currently dominant strain KP.3.1.1.

XEC has yet to be tracked by the CDC because it does not account for at least 1% of cases nationwide, but it would have to be for two weeks before the CDC includes it in its data, according to Newsweek.

Experts who spoke to the publication said that while they remain cautious about the variant, it could take weeks or months for it to “really take hold.”