Jaipur, Jan 4 (IANS): A 21-year-old youth has been traced in Jaipur who has reportedly tested positive for Omicron sub-variant XBB 1.5, which experts say is more contagious than the previous strains of the virus.

The strain is believed to be behind the recent surge in the number of Covid cases in the US. The patient in Jaipur had returned from the US on December 19 last year, sources said.

Five cases of this variant have been reported in India so far -- three in Gujarat and one each in Karnataka and Rajasthan.

He got a Covid test done on December 23 after complaining of fever, which returned positive. He then consulted a private doctor online and took medicines and reportedly got cured.

The youth's genome sequencing was conducted at the SMS Medical College in Jaipur.

"The patient came to us for check-up in the last week of December. Tests have confirmed the presence of Omicron's new sub-variant XBB 1.5," an official said.

However, the officials in the state health department are tight-lipped in this matter.

The Chief Medical Health Officer (CMHO) of Jaipur, Vijay Faujdar, said that till now, they have not received any information about this patient. Any further action will be initiated once information is received about the latest case, he added.

According to experts, this variant spreads infection by neutralising the vaccination and naturally made antibodies in our body. Not only this, the infection spreads in our body 104 times faster than all the other variants known till now.