Over the last week, three states across the United States have identified cases of the new coronavirus variant that was first found in the United Kingdom and scientists warn may be more contagious than previous versions. Concerningly, all known cases of infection by the variant, known as B.1.1.7, are in patients with no recent travel history, meaning the mutation may have been silently spreading for some time.
On Tuesday, Colorado had confirmed the nation's first known case of the variant strain, a man in his 20s with no travel history. Since then, California and Florida have identified infected individuals with the variant, all young adults without recent travel histories.
While U.S. health officials are not surprised that the variant in present in the United States--mostly due to the U.S. keeping its borders open to the U.K.--it could make the nation's current outbreak much worse if it is allowed to spread freely.
"We don't know how widely the variant first identified in the U.K. has spread in the United States. We don't know if the other variant that was first identified in South Africa is in the United States," said Dr. Henry Walke, incident manager for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's coronavirus response, in a Wednesday press conference.
"We're still learning how these variants might respond to drugs and other COVID-19 treatments, including monoclonal antibodies (like those developed by Eli Lilly & Company (NYSE: LLY) or Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN)) and convalescent plasma," Walke continued, urging Americans to take necessary precautions like mask wearings and social distancing while the health agency works to understand the new variants. Scientists are also studying whether or not vaccines developed by companies like Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)-BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) will be effective against the new variants.
First identified in the U.K., the new variant B.1.1.7 seems to infect more people than earlier mutations of the coronavirus, even when environments remain the same. Scientists had first estimated that the new strain was 70% more transmissible, but more research is pointing to that percentage being less. The other variant identified in South Africa, known as 501.V2 and has not been found in the United States, also seems to be more transmissible.
Some preliminary evidence from British researchers has shown that B.1.1.7 may case infected individuals to carry a greater amount of the coronavirus in their nose and throat than previous versions of the virus, which in turn case more viral particles to be expelled into the air when they breathe, talk, cough or sneeze.
A major concern that arises from the presence of at least one of these variants in the United States is that it can threaten to make the nation's current outbreak worse and place greater strains on an already overwhelmed health care system. December was the deadliest month of the pandemic in the United States, with over 75,000 deaths as daily infection and hospital rates continue to remain at record heights.