[ad_1]
US Navy / Jonathan Berlier via Flickr
America’s first recorded case of the SARS-CoV-2 variant originating in Brazil occurred in Minnesota, and the CDC released a report revealing how it got here and how it was investigated.
The Minnesota Department of Health confirmed the first case of the P.1 variant on January 25, weeks after the variant was first confirmed in travelers from Brazil during a routine inspection at a Tokyo airport. .
The variant, which can be up to 2.2 times more transmissible than the original COVID strain and exhibits spike protein receptor binding mutations that raised concerns about the possibility of vaccine escape and ‘naturally-built immunity, emerged amid an ongoing disaster in Brazil, which President Jair Bolsanaro has been criticized for failing to implement measures to contain COVID and roll out vaccinations, and has ridiculed COVID as “a little flu” while he claimed more than 250,000 lives in his country.
The first U.S. case was reported in Minnesota after a person became symptomatic in early January and was hospitalized for 9 days.
During the investigation of the case, it emerged that they had traveled to southeastern Brazil within 14 days of the onset of symptoms, and their travel partner – who lives in the same household – also tested positive after returning home.
The Minnesota Department of Health has been testing 100 COVID samples per week since December for possible variants, and genome sequencing of both samples confirmed variant P.1 in both.
So far, the two cases remain the only confirmed variants of P.1 in Minnesota, according to CDC figures, while the more prevalent UK variant B.1.1.7 has recorded 78 cases. Given the limitations of MDH genome sequencing however, there may be more than what has been discovered.
The CDC says the hospital patient interacted with four healthcare facilities while having the virus, with tests offered to 111 healthcare workers who came into contact with them, but no high-risk exposure.
Subsequently, 22 workers took COVID tests and none were positive.
Subscribe: subscribe to our BREAKING NEWS newsletters
The MSP airport was also informed because the couple who had the variant traveled abroad and arrived on a domestic flight to MSP, but because “19 days had passed since the flights, the CDC did has not opened a full investigation into the air contact. “
However, he obtained the information of the potentially exposed passengers and informed the health services where they were staying. 42 other people who may have had close contact with the couple in Minnesota were also offered testing. Twenty of them passed tests, all were negative.
The CDC says the discovery of the P.1 variant “underscores the importance of community-based prevention strategies in slowing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2,” including the use of “tight-fitting masks,” social distancing, hand washing, regular testing, and the use of quarantines and isolation for anyone who tests positive or shows symptoms.
[ad_2]
Source link