‘Cicada’ COVID spreads but low risk
A new COVID variant nicknamed 'Cicada' (BA.3.2) has been detected in at least 23 countries, including the U.S., after resurfacing from earlier sightings in 2024 ( ). Health authorities say early data show low population risk — Thailand’s health ministry says no new vaccination campaign is needed and the CDC continues routine monitoring of trends ( ).
The lineage was first sampled on Nov. 22, 2024, and CDC sequencing shows the first U.S. detection via the Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance program on June 27, 2025 with the first U.S. clinical specimen collected Jan. 5, 2026. (cdc.gov) CDC’s February 11, 2026 surveillance snapshot recorded BA.3.2 in nasal swabs from four travelers, clinical samples from five patients, three airplane wastewater catches and 132 positive wastewater surveillance samples across 25 U.S. states. (cdc.gov) Genetically, CDC reports roughly 70–75 substitutions and deletions in the BA.3.2 spike protein relative to the JN.1 and LP.8.1 antigens used in 2025–26 vaccines, while WHO’s technical evaluation notes about 53 spike differences from the ancestral BA.3 lineage. (cdc.gov) WHO’s December 5, 2025 risk evaluation documents two descendant sublineages, BA.3.2.1 and BA.3.2.2, and flags mutations such as P681R in BA.3.2.1 that—based on prior studies—can enhance spike cleavage and cell‑cell fusion. (cdn.who.int) Laboratory data cited by WHO show markedly lower neutralizing antibody titers against BA.3.2 in sera from vaccinated or previously infected cohorts, but WHO still concludes currently approved vaccines are expected to continue protecting against severe disease. (cdn.who.int) Surveillance notes from WHO and CDC point to elevated wastewater signals in places such as Western Australia and low‑level detections in multiple U.S. states, underscoring that public‑health monitoring is relying heavily on wastewater and traveler genomic programs rather than large clinical case clusters. (cdn.who.int) Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences has not reported confirmed BA.3.2 clinical detections to date and says it will continue genomic surveillance while treating the variant as under observation rather than a trigger for new mass‑vaccination measures. (nationthailand.com)
