New variant of coronavirus called P.1 detected in US for first time, officials say

New variant of coronavirus called P.1 detected in US for first time, officials say A new variant of coronavirus that worries health officials has been detected in the United States for the first time, officials in Minnesota said Monday. They said they had detected the P.1 variant of coronavirus in a traveler from Brazil. By <a href="/profiles/nectar-gan">Nectar Gan</a>, Adam Renton, Zahid Mahmood, <a href="/profiles/lauren-moorhouse">Lauren Said-Moorhouse</a> and Ed Upright, CNN CNN

A new variant of coronavirus that worries health officials has been detected in the United States for the first time, officials in Minnesota said Monday. They said they had detected the P.1 variant of coronavirus in a traveler from Brazil.

P.1 is one of four variants being closely watched by officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Until Monday, it had only been reported in Brazil and among a group of four travelers from Brazil to Japan.

“The variant was found through the MDH’s variant surveillance program. Each week this program collects 50 random samples from the University of Minnesota clinical laboratories, Infinity Biologix Laboratory in Oakdale, and other testing partners and then conducts special testing using a process called whole genome sequencing,” the Minnesota Department of Health said in a statement.

The P.1 variant carries a pattern of mutations that appears to make the virus more easily transmitted.

It’s been the most common variant of the virus detected in a surge of cases seen in and around Manaus, the largest city in Brazil’s Amazon region.

There’s no evidence it causes more severe disease, however. ...