First American case of Brazil-based variant found

A case of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus first found in Brazil has been confirmed in Minnesota, the state Department of Health said in a statement on Monday. This is the first confirmed case of the variant in the United States.

The case was identified in a Minnesota resident who had recently visited Brazil, the department said, which could suggest that the variant may not yet be circulating widely.

The variant, known as B.1.1.28.1 or P.1, shares many mutations with a first identified in South Africa. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines still protect against the variant circulating in South Africa, the companies said, but they are slightly less effective. They are expected to have a similar performance against the variant identified in Brazil.

The P.1 variant is also believed to be more contagious, but it is not known if it causes more serious disease. The Minnesota Department of Health identified it through its Variant Surveillance Program, which collects 50 random samples each week from state labs.

The person with the confirmed case is a resident of Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, the department said. The patient fell ill in the first week of January and the specimen was taken on January 9, he said.

Health department investigators had spoken with the person after the test was positive for Covid-19, and the person had traveled to Brazil before falling ill. The person was told to isolate and quarantine household members. Health officials conduct additional interviews with the person to learn more about the illness, travel and close contact.

President Biden’s press secretary said on Monday he would extend the Trump administration’s ban on non-citizen travel to the United States from Brazil, as well as similar restrictions in Europe and the United Kingdom , where other variants have been identified. He also added South Africa to the list.