01 June 2026 : Editorial
Editorial: Emergence of Cicada (BA.3.2) SARS-CoV-2 and the Implications for COVID-19 Surveillance and Monitoring
Dinah V. Parums
A 1*
DOI: 10.12659/MSM.954234
Med Sci Monit 2026; 32:e954234
Table 1 A 5-year history of key Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2 [3,5].
| Pango lineage | Name | Variant status |
|---|---|---|
| B.1.1.529 (includes five lineages: BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, BA.4., and BA.5) | Omicron | VOC (assigned Nov 2021) |
| BA.2.12.1 (a descendant of BA.2) | VOC | |
| XBB.1.5 (a sublineage of the XBB variant) | Kraken | VOI |
| EG.5 (and its sub lineages EG.5.1, EG.5.1.1, and EG.5.2) | Eris | VOI |
| JN.1 (a descendant of BA.2.86) | VOI (as of Dec 2024). By early 2024, the most widely circulating variant worldwide | |
| FL.1.5.1 (XBB descendant) | Fornax | |
| XBB.1.16 | Arcturus | |
| LP.8.1 (JN.1 descendant) | VUM (as of Jan 2025) | |
| KP.3.1.1 | VUM (as of July 2024) | |
| NB.1.8.1 | Nimbus | VUM (as of May 2025) |
| XFG.1 | Stratus | VUM (as of June 2025) |
| BA.3.2 | Cicada | VUM (as of Dec 2025) |
| Abbreviations: SARS-CoV-2, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; VOC, Variant of Concern (a SARS-CoV-2 variant that shows increased transmissibility, higher virulence, or reduced effectiveness of public health measures, vaccines, or treatments); VOI, Variant of Interest (A SARS-CoV-2 variant with genetic changes that are predicted or known to affect virus characteristics, such as transmissibility, disease severity, immune escape, or diagnostic/therapeutic escape); VUM, Variant Under Monitoring (variants that show genetic changes suspected to affect virus characteristics, but which currently lack evidence of significant impact on public health). | ||