New COVID BA.3.2 Variant: A New Lineage

This is from CIDRAP 3-23-26:

New COVID variant with immune escape potential confirmed in US, 22 other countries
News brief, Today at 3:58 p.m.
Mary Van Beusekom, MS

"The highly mutated SARS-CoV-2 BA.3.2 variant, which has been reported by at least 23 countries as of February 11, has been detected in nasal swabs collected from four US travelers, clinical samples from five patients, three airplane wastewater samples, and 132 wastewater surveillance samples from 25 states, per a study published last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

"First identified in a respiratory sample in South Africa in November 2024, the strain has roughly 70 to 75 substitutions and deletions in the gene sequence of its spike protein relative to the JN.1 variant and its descendant, LP.8.1, the antigens used in the latest COVID-19 vaccines. 

“BA.3.2 represents a new lineage of SARS-CoV-2, genetically distinct from the JN.1 lineages (including LP.8.1 and XFG) that have circulated in the United States since January 2024,” wrote the authors, led by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers. The CDC uses digital public health surveillance to monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants around the world.

30% prevalence in 3 European countries

"Detections of BA.3.2 began rising in September 2025. The first US identification of the strain was on June 27, 2025, through the CDC’s Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance program in a person traveling to the United States from the Netherlands. 

"From November 2025 to January 2026, weekly BA.3.2 detections increased to about 30% of sequences in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. The first US instance of BA.3.2 in a clinical specimen was documented on January 5, 2026. As of February 11, the strain’s prevalence among 2,579 total genetic sequences in national surveillance collected starting on December 1, 2025, was 0.19%.

“Because many countries have limited genomic detection and surveillance capacities, these detections likely underrepresent the actual geographic extent of spread,” the researchers wrote. “Phylogenetic analyses have identified the emergence of two BA.3.2 sublineages (BA.3.2.1 and BA.3.2.2), indicating ongoing viral evolution.”

"As BA.3.2 mutations in the spike protein could reduce protection from a vaccination or infection, “continued genomic surveillance is needed to track SARS-CoV-2 evolution and determine its potential effect on public health,” they added."