A new and highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa was found in the United States for the first time, with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina, state health officials said on Thursday. The two cases do not appear to be related, nor do people have a history of recent travel, said the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
“This is scary,” because it means that there are probably more undetected cases in the state, said Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease physician at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. “It is probably more widespread.”
The arrival of this variant now the increase in other countries shows that “the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, acting director of public health for the South Carolina agency, in a statement. “While more COVID-19 vaccines are on the way, supplies are still limited. Each of us must commit again to the fight, recognizing that we are all on the front lines now. We are all in this together.”
The two people infected with this variant are adults; one is from Lowcountry in South Carolina and the other from the Pee Dee region, the state said, while retaining other information to protect its privacy.
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Viruses are constantly mutating, with variants of the coronavirus circulating around the globe, but scientists are mainly concerned by the recent emergence of three of them. Other variants first detected in the UK and Brazil has also been confirmed in the United States. Researchers believe that these three variants can spread more easily and predicted that it would only be a matter of time before they appear here.
“At the moment, we have no evidence that infections with this variant cause more serious illness,” the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. “Like the UK and Brazil variants, preliminary data suggests that this variant may spread more easily and quickly than other variants. “
In addition, scientists last week reported preliminary, but worrying, signs that some of the recent mutations may modestly reduce the strength of the two current vaccines, although they emphasize that the vaccines still protect against the disease. And there are signs that some of the new mutations may hinder testing for the virus and reduce the effectiveness of certain treatments.
The coronavirus has already taken millions and killed more than 400,000 people in the United States.
Although some European countries do extensive genetic testing to detect these variants, the US did very little of this detective work. But scientists have been trying to do it faster and are identifying these seemingly more contagious variants as they do so.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported at least 315 cases of the variant discovered in the United Kingdom in the United States. These reports came from at least 28 states, and health officials believe it could become the dominant strain in the United States by March. This variant has been reported in at least 70 countries.
The first American case of the variant originally found in Brazil was announced earlier this week by health officials in Minnesota. It was a person who recently traveled to that South American country. This version of the virus appeared in more than half a dozen countries.
The variant first found in South Africa was detected there in October. Since then, it has been found in at least 30 other countries.
Some tests suggest that South African and Brazilian variants may be less susceptible to antibody drugs or treatment with antibody-rich blood plasma from survivors of COVID-19, which help people fight the virus.
Health officials also fear that if the virus changes enough, more people will be able to receive COVID-19 a second time.
President Biden reinstated on Monday Restrictions on traveling due to covid-19 in most non-American citizens traveling from Brazil, the United Kingdom and South Africa. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending that Americans do not travel at this time.