The new COVID-19 variant, called BA.3.2, has been detected in nose fluid samples taken from 4 American tourists and clinical samples from 5 patients in 4 states.
BA.3.2 was also found in 3 aircraft wastewater samples and 132 wastewater samples taken in more than 20 states, showing that the actual spread range is much wider than what scientists are observing.
Originating from Omicron, BA. 3. The first 2 times were detected in South Africa in 2024 and in the US in June 2025 in a tourist from the Netherlands. This variant began to explode strongly in September 2025 and has since been reported in 23 countries.
The evolution of the new COVID-19 variant is similar to the BA.2.86 variant, which appeared in 2024 and then evolved into JN.1 - the dominant COVID-19 variant in 2024. But this new strain is "genetically distinct from the JN.1 strains that have been circulating in the US since January 2024", researchers warned in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Weekly Report on Infertility and Mortality.
The emergence of this variant may lead to the need to update existing vaccines, which only target sub-variants of JN. 1 and protect against those that have prevailed in the US.
BA.3.2 carries about 70 to 75 genetic changes in spine protein, which helps viruses enter cells in the human body, making viruses more contagious and avoiding immune system protection.
Laboratory studies show that the new BA.3.2 strain avoids the protective antibodies that the vaccine activates.
BA.3.2 has been found in California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wyoming, Louisiana, Michigan and Ohio.
However, the consequences of this difficult-to-detect variant have largely not been clarified.
BA.3.2 is not one of the dominant variants in the US, but other branches of Omicron once dominated, according to data from the CDC.
This year, other respiratory diseases, including influenza and RSV, have surpassed COVID-19 during the winter outbreak. There is a possible increase in the number of cases in the summer, which has seen a significant increase since the pandemic began in the US.
The number of deaths from COVID-19 has decreased compared to last year. The number of COVID-19 positive tests and the number of visits to emergency rooms due to infection have also decreased. CDC data shows that there have been more than 3,600 deaths from COVID-19 as of this time this year.
