BA.2 coronavirus variant detected in Louisville waste water

On Mar 24, 2022

IN A NEGATIVE EFFECT SUCH AS A SURGE IN CRI. RICK: A NEW OMICRON SUBVARIANT CALLED B.A M.2AKING ITS WAY THROUGH EUROPE AND THE U.SAS.H — EUROPE AND THE U..S HAS LANDED HERE IN LOUISVILLE. B.A.2 WAS DETECTED IN JEFFERNSO COUNTY WASTEWATER. THE VARIANT WAS DETECTED AT TWO SITES IN WEST LOUISVILLE, BUT NOT BELIEVED TO BE ISOLATED TO JUST THAT AREA. DOCTOR JEFF HOWARD SAYS YOUR BEST FORM OF PROTECTION AGAINST THIS NEW VARIANT IS TO GET VACCINATED. >> WHAT WE DO KNOW IS ATTH VACCINATION DOES PROVIDE IMMUNITY. CURRENT DATA SUGGESTS IT DOES PROVIDE PROTECTION AGAINST BA2 VARIANT AND EVERYONE WHO WANTS THAT PROTECTION SHOULDET G VACCINATED. RICK: THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SAYS THE NUMBER

Highly contagious BA.2 coronavirus variant detected in Louisville: What we know about it

An extra-contagious version of the omicron variant that has been rising in parts of Europe and Asia has now been detected in Louisville.According to Louisville Metro Health, the new variant BA.2 has been found in wastewater.BA.2 has caused about 35% of cases in the U.S. last week, up from 22% the week before, according to new estimates from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which were posted on Tuesday. Here’s what we know about BA.2 so far BA.2 is technically classified as a part of the omicron family of viruses, but genetically this strain is very different, with about 40 mutations separating it from its cousin, BA.1. That makes it about as distinct from the original omicron as alpha, beta and delta were from each other.It is more contagious than omicron’s BA.1, which was already an extremely contagious virus with a basic reproduction number, or R-naught, of about eight, according to William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which means that a single infected person could be expected to transmit the disease to an average of eight others.Though BA.2 is more contagious, it does not appear to cause more severe disease. And though it escapes some of the immune protection created by vaccinations and prior infections, it doesn’t seem to do so any more than BA.1.Read more here.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —

An extra-contagious version of the omicron variant that has been rising in parts of Europe and Asia has now been detected in Louisville.

According to Louisville Metro Health, the new variant BA.2 has been found in wastewater.

BA.2 has caused about 35% of cases in the U.S. last week, up from 22% the week before, according to new estimates from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which were posted on Tuesday.

Here’s what we know about BA.2 so far

BA.2 is technically classified as a part of the omicron family of viruses, but genetically this strain is very different, with about 40 mutations separating it from its cousin, BA.1. That makes it about as distinct from the original omicron as alpha, beta and delta were from each other.

It is more contagious than omicron’s BA.1, which was already an extremely contagious virus with a basic reproduction number, or R-naught, of about eight, according to William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which means that a single infected person could be expected to transmit the disease to an average of eight others.

Though BA.2 is more contagious, it does not appear to cause more severe disease. And though it escapes some of the immune protection created by vaccinations and prior infections, it doesn’t seem to do so any more than BA.1.