South Carolina detects the first known case in the US

The first cases of Covid-19 in the United States of a new highly contagious strain of the virus first found in South Africa have been detected in South Carolina, the state health department said Thursday.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said the strain, known as B.1.351, was found in two adults with no history of travel or connection between them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday notified South Carolina health authorities that a sample tested at LabCorp was variant B.1.351, the health department said Thursday.

The state’s own public health lab “later identified a separate case of the same variant” in a sample tested Monday, the South Carolina Department of Health said in a statement. While the strain appears to be highly transmissible, it does not appear to cause disease in people, the health department said.

“The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variant in our state is an important reminder to all South Carolinians that the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, interim director of the department, in a statement.

Mutated coronavirus strains have migrated to the United States in recent weeks. Minnesota health officials on Monday identified the first U.S. case of a similar variant that was first detected in Brazil. The United States has also identified more than 300 cases with another strain first found in the United Kingdom, known as B.1.1.7, according to recent CDC data.

The emergence of these new strains has not come as a surprise to scientists. The United States is rapidly trying to step up its surveillance efforts to track new strains through genomic sequencing, which could come from abroad or “come from our own country,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, new director of CDC.

“CDC is beginning its efforts to understand this variant and will continue to provide updates as we learn more,” the health agency said in a statement. “CDC recommendations to slow the spread (wear masks, stay at least 6 feet apart from others, avoid crowds, ventilate indoor spaces, and wash your hands often) will also prevent the spread of this variant.”

The two strains of the virus found in the UK and South Africa share similar mutations, but experts say they developed separately. While it’s no surprise that the virus mutates, researchers are trying to quickly determine what the changes could mean for recently developed life-saving vaccines and treatments for the disease.

The B.1.351 strain appears to be more problematic than the emerging variant found in the UK, White House health adviser Drs. Anthony Fauci. Fauci said during a press conference that vaccine-induced antibodies may be less effective in fighting this strain, even though it is “still inside the protective cushion.”

Early findings published on the bioRxiv prepress server, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, indicate that variant B.1.351 may bypass the antibodies provided by some coronavirus treatments and may reduce the effectiveness of the current line of available vaccines. . On Monday, Moderna said its vaccine could be less effective against strain B.1.351 and that it is developing the so-called booster shot to protect itself from this variant “with great caution.”

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday in an interview with CNN that the new mRNA technology used to develop the Modern and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, the only two who have received emergency authorization in the US so far. easily adjusted to target variants.

These booster shots should not go through the rigorous phase of three clinical trials that required thousands of participants, he added.

“There is no need to make a trial of 30,000 people or a trial of 40,000 people,” Fauci said. “You work with the FDA and you could connect information from one trial to another. In short, we’re already there.”

– CNBC’s Will Feuer contributed to this report.