There may be a new COVID variant, Deltacron.

There may be a new COVID variant, Deltacron. Here's what we know about it. The newly identified Deltacron COVID-19 case, created by the combination of the Delta and Omicron variants, is not widely spread. Here's what we know. Mike Snider USA TODAY

A potential new COVID variant, a combination of the Delta and Omicron variants – you can call it "Deltacron" – has been identified.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday the new COVID-19 combination has been detected in France, the Netherlands and Denmark. It's also been found in the U.S., according to a new report soon to be published on research site MedRxiv and viewed by USA TODAY.

The San Mateo, California-headquartered lab Helix, which works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track COVID-19, sequenced 29,719 positive COVID samples collected Nov. 22, 2021, to Feb. 13, 2022, from across the U.S., according to the research team, which included the University of Washington Medical Center and testing company Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Researchers found two infections involving different versions of Deltacron, resulting from the combination of Delta and Omicron genetic material. Twenty other infections had both the Delta and Omicron variants, with one case having Delta, Omicron and Deltacron. ...