No clinical cases have been confirmed
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has confirmed the presence of the BA.2.75 omicron subvariant in wastewater samples in Colorado for the first time through its wastewater surveillance program. Public health officials discovered the presence of BA.2.75 in wastewater samples from Upper Thompson and Estes Park in Larimer County and Brush in Morgan County. There are no confirmed clinical cases at this time.
The BA.2.75 omicron subvariant was first identified in May of 2022 in India. Scientists are still learning about the characteristics of the variant but note that the number of mutations present in BA.2.75 suggest it could cause some degree of greater immune escape than other circulating omicron subvariants.
“This is exactly how the wastewater surveillance program is designed to work,” said Allison Wheeler, Waterborne Disease Unit Manager, CDPHE. “The virus can be shed in stool before someone shows symptoms and in this case has notified us about the presence of this variant in the community before we’ve seen it in clinical samples.”
Since August of 2020, CDPHE has worked with Colorado wastewater utilities to monitor COVID-19 in wastewater. Wastewater surveillance allows public health officials to identify the presence of a virus in a community before receiving results from clinical testing. At this time, the state’s wastewater program includes 55 participating utilities, and we continue to onboard additional utilities throughout the state.
Vaccines are the safest, most effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19 and its variants and to help avoid severe illness, hospitalization, and death). A complete list of COVID-19 vaccine clinics can be found on our website, as well as a list of over 2,000 vaccine providers throughout Colorado. If you test positive or think you might have COVID-19, you may be able to get treatment to help you recover. Visit covid19.colorado.gov/treatment to find treatment.
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