Highly Contagious South African Coronavirus Variant Found in South Carolina

Highly Contagious South African Coronavirus Variant Found in South Carolina

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that is aware that the first US documented cases of the B 1.351 variant of SARS-CoV-2, which was first detected in South Africa, have been identified in South Carolina.

The coronavirus variant in South Africa is 50% more contagious than the original strain, the African country's leading infectious disease expert said, according to Business Insider. 

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The development comes after it was revealed the Pfizer vaccine is slightly less effective against key parts of South African variant.

CDC Recommends People Avoid Travel

The CDC released the following on Thursday:

"CDC is early in its efforts to understand this variant and will continue to provide updates as we learn more. At this time, we have no evidence that infections by this variant cause more severe disease. Like the UK and Brazilian variants, preliminary data suggests this variant may spread more easily and quickly than other variants.

CDC will continue communicating with international, state, and local partners to monitor the presence and impact of variants in the United States and around the world. Monitoring variants is why CDC has expanded National SARS-CoV-2 Strain Surveillance (NS3).  We continue working with national reference laboratories, state health departments and researchers from around the country to gather sequence data and increase use of genomic sequencing data in response to this pandemic.

CDC recommends that people avoid travel at this time. However, for those who must travel, additional measures have been put in place to increase safety; especially as COVID-19 variants spread around the world.  As of January 26, all air passengers flying into the United States must provide a negative test result or documentation of recovery to the airline before they board a flight to the US.  This is one aspect of the comprehensive, science-driven response to reduce the spread of COVID-19 through travel and in the United States.

CDC’s recommendations for slowing the spread—wearing masks, staying at least 6 feet apart from others, avoiding crowds, ventilating indoor spaces, and washing hands often—will also prevent the spread of this variant."

For more information, visit: Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants | CDC and Requirement for Proof of Negative COVID-19 Test or Recovery from COVID-19 for All Air Passengers Arriving in the United States | CDC