The COVID-19 UK variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7, has been found in Dallas. The first case in Texas of the mutated virus first identified in the United Kingdom was reported in Harris County earlier this month.
“This is now the third identified case in Texas, and we can assume there are more cases in our community due to the nature of this variant and how quickly it spreads,” Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas County Health and Human Services director, said in a press release.
The individual identified as having been infected by the B.1.1.7 variant is a Dallas man in his 20s with no recent history of travel outside the U.S. He is in stable condition, isolated, and DCHHS epidemiologists are conducting an investigation to identify and notify others who came in close contact with him. In a press release, DCHHS said it found the infection was caused by the variant through the results of genetic sequencing.
Abstract
Central nervous system (CNS) infection is a serious neurologic condition, although the etiology remains unknown in >50% of patients. We used metagenomic next-generation sequencing to detect viruses in 204 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with acute CNS infection who were enrolled from Vietnam hospitals during 2012–2016. We detected 8 viral species in 107/204 (52.4%) of CSF samples. After virus-specific PCR confirmation, the detection rate was lowered to 30/204 (14.7%). Enteroviruses were the most common viruses detected (n = 23), followed by hepatitis B virus (3), HIV (2), molluscum contagiosum virus (1), and gemycircularvirus (1). Analysis of enterovirus sequences revealed the predominance of echovirus 30 (9). Phylogenetically, the echovirus 30 strains belonged to genogroup V and VIIb. Our results expanded knowledge about the clinical burden of enterovirus in Vietnam and underscore the challenges of identifying a plausible viral pathogen in CSF of patients