Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia have reported cases of the newest omicron subvariant, BA.2.75, as of Sept. 8, up from 20 states a month prior, disease surveillance data shows.
Scientists have closely monitored the variant this summer to assess its risk of competing against BA.5 — the nation's dominant strain — or causing more severe disease. Emerging research suggests the variant may not pose a large threat to public health.
A study published Sept. 1 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases found BA.2.75 was not more immune evasive than BA.5 and is still responsive to the monoclonal antibody treatments Evusheld and bebtelovimab. A separate study published in the journal found that antibody escape was an overall less pronounced characteristic of BA.2.75 compared with BA.4 and BA.5.
Below is a breakdown of U.S. states reporting BA.2.75 cases, based on a dashboard run by Raj Rajnarayanan, PhD, assistant dean of research and associate professor in the department of basic sciences at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. The dashboard uses data from GISAID, a global data-sharing platform for viruses.
California — 75
New York — 51
New Jersey — 46
Washington — 34
Texas — 28
Illinois — 22
North Carolina — 20
Arizona — 18
Georgia — 13
Maryland — 12
Michigan — 11
Ohio — 11
Virginia — 11
Wisconsin — 9
Pennsylvania — 9
Connecticut — 8
Massachusetts — 7
Indiana — 6
Florida — 6
Minnesota — 5
District of Columbia — 5
Colorado — 5
Iowa — 4
Nevada — 3
Nebraska — 3
Tennessee — 2
Maine — 2
Kentucky — 2
Kansas — 2
Delaware — 2
Rhode Island — 1
Missouri — 1
Hawaii — 1
Alaska — 1