Researchers think 'hundreds' of people in US could have new UK coronavirus strain

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Fri, 2021-01-01 16:31 — mike kraft

Researchers think 'hundreds' of people in US could have new UK coronavirus strain Researchers studying the new UK strain of the coronavirus think it likely arrived in the US in mid-November, and that many people in the United States could already be infected. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent CNN

(CNN) Researchers studying the new UK strain of the coronavirus think it likely arrived in the US in mid-November, and that many people in the United States could already be infected.

"If I had to guess, I would say it's probably in hundreds of people by now," said Michael Worobey, head of the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona. "It's very possible it's arrived multiple times in multiple places."

Imagine the amount of infected travelers leaving London -- that's been increasing exponentially," said Trevor Bedford, associate professor in the vaccine and infectious disease division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. ...

To detect new mutations of a virus, samples are gathered from infected patients and then undergo genetic sequencing, looking at the order of the letters in its genetic code for anything new.

In the US, only a relatively small number of samples go through this process. ..

Health officials say research so far shows the changes do appear to make the virus more transmissible, but it doesn't appear that the variant causes more severe disease. They also say that at this point, it looks like the vaccine will still work against the UK variant.

Last month, the CDC launched a strain surveillance program where states will send in at least 10 samples biweekly for analysis. The agency expects to have the program fully implemented in January.

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