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The strain officially known as BA.2.86 has been particularly prominent in New York.
It now makes up 9 percent of COVID cases in the US, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
World Health Organization (WHO) authorities said they consider BA.2.86 to be part of the Omicron variant family, but that could change if the strain spreads more widely even though Pirola's 30 mutations are from the BA.2 lineage, which was the dominant Omicron strain in 2022.
The Pirola strain was first detected in Israel and Denmark in August.
Currently, the HV.1 subvariant remains the most dominant strain in the country. accounting for about 32 percent of cases in the week ending Saturday, Nov. 25.
HV.1 was also first identified over the summer but in low numbers.
The EG.5 strain, known as Eris, is second behind HV.1, accounting for about 13 percent of US cases.
Also first identified over the summer, EG.5 is the most prominent strain worldwide at about 46 percent of cases across the globe.
Like EG.5, HV.1 is an offshoot of the highly contagious Omicron strain.
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