According to a new report, a more contagious strain of coronavirus that has been confirmed in three US states could have been in the country since October.
Researchers say a mutation in the virus identified in the United States appears to be similar to the B117 version of the bug – the so-called “British version” – which may have come from America itself, the Guardian said in a report.
The most easily transmitted strain has been identified in patients in California, Colorado and Florida since Friday, the newspaper said.
“It would not be surprising if at least some of the cases were B117,” said researcher Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.
“He’s probably been here for a while now, but you don’t see him until you look for him,” Topol said.
British officials announced a global pandemic on December 14, prompting at least 17 countries to announce travel bans in the UK.
On Thursday, Florida became the third U.S. state to identify a similar option – joining California and Colorado, which reported cases earlier this week.
The discovery prompted scientists at California-based DNA testing company Helix to review 2 million COVID-19 tests, which determined that a genetic model similar to the mutant virus existed in some samples in October, the Guardian said.
Helix is now working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine the extent of the variant’s presence in the country.
“If we see (variant B117), then we might be able to look at whether it was introduced to the United States once or more or whether it has moved,” said Nicole Washington, associate director of research at Helix.
“If all the samples have it, it’s probably been here for a while,” she said. “But if only one or two samples have it, then it may have been introduced recently and we are just beginning to see it spread.”
Scientists have said that there is a possibility – although unlikely – that the variant will come from the US and not the UK.