- Maryland officials said a man from Baltimore caught the coronavirus variant first found in South Africa.
- The man did not travel abroad and probably took the variant locally, said the Maryland governor.
- The mutant variant is more contagious, but is not considered more deadly.
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The United States has identified its third case of the most contagious coronavirus variant found in South Africa – this time in a man from Maryland.
The man, from the Baltimore region, had not traveled abroad, Governor Larry Hogan said in a statement, meaning that he “probably” picked him up in the community.
This is the third case of the variant found in the US: South Carolina state officials announced on Thursday the first two confirmed cases of the variant in the country. None of the people traveled outside the United States and the two cases were unrelated, state health officials said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the variant, called B.1.351, may “spread more quickly and easily”, but there is no evidence that it is more deadly. The variant has a mutation in its spike protein, which is what the coronavirus uses to invade human cells.
Read More: Variants of the coronavirus threaten to halt the pandemic’s progress. See how the 4 largest vaccine manufacturers are reacting.
Hogan said Maryland health officials are trying to identify and test the man’s contacts, as well as “closely monitor SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.351 in the state”.
“We encourage sailors to exercise extra caution to limit the additional risk of transmission associated with this variant. Continue to practice standard public health and safety measures, including wearing a mask, regular hand washing and physical distance.”
The man did not have to go to the hospital and is recovering at home, Maryland health department spokesman Charles Gischlar told The Washington Post.
Maryland confirmed 352,726 cases of COVID-19. Across the country, almost 26 million cases have been confirmed and the virus has killed more than 435,000 people, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Studies suggest that vaccines are effective against the variant
The latest evidence suggests that vaccines work against the variant – although slightly less effective than against the original virus.
A study published on Wednesday showed that the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech worked against a laboratory-made coronavirus similar to the South African variant. Performance was slightly lower than that of the original virus, but it was “unlikely to lead to a significant reduction” in effectiveness, pharmaceutical companies said. Moderna announced similar results from a study on Monday.
There is still insufficient data to say whether vaccines work against the variant outside laboratory conditions.
Some studies have suggested that the variant may be able to escape the antibodies produced by the body. Both Pfizer and Moderna, which manufacture the two vaccines authorized in the U.S., are developing new versions of their vaccines to combat the variant.
President Joe Biden has banned travelers from South Africa from entering the United States.
The USA has also reported cases of mutant variants found in Brazil and the United Kingdom. The variant first identified in the UK, B.1.1.7, is the most widespread of the three variants now confirmed in the United States, and experts believe it has been circulating in the United States for several weeks.