Mississippi has 1st case of South African COVID-19 variant. It was found on the Coast.
Update Monday, March 22, 2021: MSDH said the investigation is ongoing, “but exposure to a family member with recent travel to South Africa has been identified.”
Mississippi has reported a case of the South African variant of COVID-19, also called B.1.351, and it’s in Harrison County.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs called the development “a strong reminder that we are not remotely out of this.”
State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said the health department has no evidence that the person with the South African variant in Harrison County had recently traveled outside of the state. Byers said the department is continuing to contact trace and monitor the person’s close contacts for possible transmission.
Dobbs said he doesn’t see reason for Harrison County residents to be more anxious about the variant than other Mississippians.
“If we found one, there’s probably multiple,” he said. “It could be anywhere. It’s probably an indicator it exists in larger amounts elsewhere.”
There is some decreased effectiveness of the vaccine with the South African variant, Dobbs said, though all vaccines still have been shown to provide strong protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death. The variant has shown greater resistance to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but evidence shows Moderna and Pfizer are still effective against it.
Dobbs called it “a potentially more dangerous variant,” and emphasized how important it is to get vaccinated now, and still take simple measures like wearing a mask and avoiding large, indoor social gatherings.
The South African variant is up to 50% more transmissible than the original strain, according to the CDC, but there is no indication that it causes more serious illness and higher death rates.
The CDC reports that 180 cases of the B.1.351 variant have been identified in 26 states or territories.
Most of Mississippi’s neighboring states have not reported a case of the South African variant. Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama have not detected the strain, while Tennessee has reported one case.
Mississippi reported its first case of the United Kingdom variant, B.1.1.7, on Feb. 15. That variant is up to 50% more transmissible than the original virus and is thought to be responsible for Europe’s latest spike in cases and deaths.
A recent study found that the U.K. variant is likely around 64% more lethal than the original coronavirus.
On Friday, the CDC’s national listing of variant cases showed nine U.K. cases in Mississippi. At the press conference, Byers said the state has seen 10 cases.
A total of 5,567 U.K. cases have been reported in the U.S.
Byers said recently the state is only testing 75 coronavirus samples per week for variants, but the health department hopes to increase capacity soon.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 2:18 PM.
