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Variant B.1.351 has been identified in more than 30 countries.
This undated brochure image, courtesy of the British Health Protection Agency, shows the coronavirus seen under an electron microscope. Image: AFP.
WASHINGTON – A more communicable variant of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa was first detected on US soil in two adults with no travel history and no connection to each other, authorities said Thursday.
The cases were found in the state of South Carolina, according to a statement.
“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 Brannon Traxler, acting director of public health for the state health department.
Variant B.1.351 has been identified in more than 30 countries, and scientists had anticipated that it could already be in the US.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement confirming the development, adding that it was working to expand a national system to detect mutations.
The current ability of the United States to detect emerging strains lags far behind many other developed countries.
Scientists are more concerned about this mutation than about the better-known B.1.1.7 variant first identified in Britain, which has now been seen in dozens of US states.
This is because B.1.351 appears capable of circumventing part of the blocking action of antibodies produced by current vaccines and synthetic antibody therapies.
Although there is still no evidence that B.1.351 causes more serious disease than the more common strains of the virus, the higher infection rate associated with the variant would likely stimulate an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
On Monday, Minnesota officials announced the first case of another, more transmissible variant, P.1, in a person who had recently returned from Brazil.
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