COVID source shout-out: Cryptic lineage investigation in Ohio

Marc Johnson, a molecular virologist and wastewater surveillance expert at the University of Missouri, recently went viral on Twitter with a thread discussing his team’s investigation into a cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineage in Ohio. I was glad to see the project get some attention, because I find Johnson’s research in this area fascinating and valuable for better understanding the links between coronavirus infection and chronic symptoms.

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National numbers, May 14

COVID-19 spread continues to trend down in the U.S., though our data for tracking this disease is now worse than ever thanks to the end of the federal public health emergency. If newer Omicron variants cause a surge this summer, those increases will be hard to spot.

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FAQ: BA.4 and BA.5, potentially the most transmissible Omicron subvariants yet

America’s current COVID-19 surge is being driven by BA.2 and its sublineage BA.2.12.1. But there are other versions of Omicron out there to which we need to pay attention—namely, BA.4 and BA.5. Here’s a brief FAQ on these two subvariants, including why scientists are concerned about them and where they’re spreading in the U.S.

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A BA.2 surge is approaching: Here’s what you should know about this variant

Europe’s new surge is likely due to European leaders’ decisions to end all COVID-19 safety measures in their countries, combined with the rise of Omicron sublineage BA.2. As BA.2 prevalence increases here in the U.S.—and our leaders also end safety measures—we seem poised to follow in Europe’s footsteps once again. But a BA.2 surge is likely to look different from the intense Omicron surge that we experienced in December and January, in part because of leftover immunity from that Omicron surge.

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BA.2 FAQ: What you should know about this Omicron offshoot

An offshoot strain of the Omicron variant has been making headlines this week as it spreads rapidly in some European and Asian countries. While the strain, called BA.2 by virologists, has not yet been identified in the U.S. in large numbers, it’s already spreading here, too: scientists have picked it up in wastewater samples in some parts of the country.

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