A case of a worrying coronavirus variant, first identified in Brazil, was first detected in Utah, according to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
An update made on the CDC’s “US COVID-19 Cases Caused by Variants” page on Sunday shows that a single case from P.1. variant was found in the hive state.
In total, there are now at least 54 cases of P.1. variant reported in 18. US jurisdictions.
The Brazilian variant was first identified in the United States in late January. It is believed to have originated in Manaus, a city in the northwest of the Amazon, where researchers say it probably circulated in December. The strain includes three mutations, E484K, K417T and N501Y, similar to a separate variant initially detected in South Africa.
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Although the P.1 variant was determined to be more transmissible than the wild-type coronavirus, the University of Oxford said last week that new findings showed that it poses less of a threat to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and that developed by Pfizer and BioNTech than previously thought.
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The news of Utah’s first Brazilian variant case comes after P.1. variant was also identified in New York for the first time. In a press release released on Saturday, state health officials said the patient is a Brooklyn resident in his 90s, with no travel history, and that work is underway to learn more about the patient and any contacts potential.
Fox News’ Alexandria Hein contributed to this report.