Two more COVID ‘variants of concern’ detected in Fresno County. Here’s what we know
Two new coronavirus variants have been detected among Fresno County residents, public health officials said Tuesday.
The news means four coronavirus strains identified by federal health officials as “variants of concern” are now present in Fresno County.
Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer for the Fresno County Department of Public Health, said Tuesday that two people tested positive for the B.1.351 strain of COVID-19, virus, also known as the South African variant, and one confirmed to have had the P.1 strain, referred to as the Brazilian variant.
Those are in addition to already identified cases of the B.1.1.7 “UK” variant and the B.1.427 and B.1.429 strains, two closely-related viruses collectively referred to as the “West Coast” or “California” variant of coronavirus.
Vohra said his office was notified of the variants by the California Department of Public Health late last week. To date, more than 100,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Fresno County, including about a dozen cases of the variants that have emerged in recent months as the virus mutates slightly when it replicates itself and is passed from one person to another.
Vohra added that there are likely many more cases of the variants actually present in Fresno County, because only a tiny portion of samples taken for testing are submitted for the more detailed genomic analysis required to identify a particular variant strain.
“I think it’s safe to assume there’s more variants that we haven’t detected because not everyone who gets tested gets checked for the variants.” he said.
COVID-19 variants have turned up in at least four counties in the central San Joaquin Valley.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that the B.1.1.7 variant was first identified last fall in the United Kingdom, and has since spread to more than 200 countries around the world. As of April 7, the California Department of Public Health reported that there were 980 cases of the B.1.1.7 strain detected in California.
The B.1.427 and B.1.429 strains, collectively known as the West Coast or California variant, emerged in California in February 2021. Together, the two strains amount to more than 12,400 cases in the state.
The South African variant, B.1.351, and the P.1 Brazilian variant, together represent just over 50 cases in California.
The B.1.351 strain was initially detected in South Africa in December and was first identified in the U.S. in late January, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fourteen cases of the South African strain have been confirmed in California.
The Brazilian P.1 variant was identified in the U.S. in January 2021, and to date numbers 37 cases in California. It was initially detected in travelers from Brazil during airport screening in Japan in January 2021.
Coincidentally, Brazil has been among global hot spots in the global coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks, according to data from the World Health Organization. There have been more than 3 million new cases reported since March 1 – more than 22% of Brazil’s cases confirmed since early 2020. Of about 353,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Brazil to date, more than 100,000 victims lost their lives in just the past six weeks.
It’s still unclear whether the latest variants are more dangerous than the more common virus. State and federal health officials indicate that in addition to being more contagious than the more common COVID-19 strain that has been the root of the global pandemic since early 2020, some of the variants are believed to be associated with a higher risk of severe disease or death.
Less clear, however, is how susceptible the variants are to the vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the U.S. Some research indicates that the South African variant may be more resistant to antibody therapies used to treat early and mild cases of COVID-19, such as monoclonal antibodies used to treat President Donald Trump when he contracted the coronavirus last fall.
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 3:43 PM.
