Colorado confirms first known US case of new COVID-19 strain believed to be more contagious

Colorado has confirmed the first known U.S. case of a new coronavirus strain that was first identified in the United Kingdom.

"Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the U.K.," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said on Twitter Tuesday afternoon. "The health and safety of Coloradans is our top priority and we will monitor this case, as well as all COVID-19 indicators, very closely."

The Colorado state laboratory confirmed the case and notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the governor's office said in a statement. The patient is a man in his 20s who is recovering in isolation in Elbert County, outside Denver. He has no travel history and no close contacts. Public health officials were conducting an investigation.

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Scientists in the United Kingdom believe the variant strain to be more contagious than previously identified strains but not more severe. According to models, it has an increased transmission rate of 70% compared with other variants in the U.K.

It was first spotted in September in southeastern England. The new variant accounted for a quarter of cases in London by November. By the week of Dec. 9, it was responsible for 60% of cases in the city. London and large areas of southern England are under lockdown measures, and dozens of nations have banned travel from the U.K.

The strain has also been identified in France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, India, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. South Africa has identified a strain similar to the one first identified in the U.K., but it emerged independently of the U.K. strain and is not related to it, according to the CDC.

The Colorado lab identified the variant through analysis of testing samples, initially spotting a tell-tale sign of the variant in a PCR test. Scientists then sequenced the viral genome and found eight mutations specific to the spike protein gene associated with this variant, according to the governor's office.

Polis and state officials planned to hold a press conference Wednesday morning to provide more details.

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The CDC said last week that the strain could already be in the country without detection. As of Dec. 22, viruses had only been sequenced from about 51,000 of 17 million U.S. cases, the agency said.

"Ongoing travel between the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the high prevalence of this variant among current UK infections, increase the likelihood of importation," the CDC said.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, mutates regularly and acquires about one new mutation in its genome every two weeks, according to the CDC. This particular variant, known as B117, has several mutations that affect the so-called "spiked protein" on the virus surface that attaches to human cells.

Researchers believe current COVID-19 vaccines will likely protect against the new variant, but data is needed. The virus would "likely need to accumulate multiple mutations in the spike protein to evade immunity induced by vaccines or by natural infection," according to the CDC.

Earlier this month, Vivek Murthy, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for surgeon general, urged Americans not to let concerns over the variant shake their faith in vaccination. "There’s no reason to believe that the vaccines that have been developed will not be effective against this virus as well," Murthy said on NBC’s "Meet the Press."

The emergence of a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus isn’t surprising, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, a professor of infectious disease at the University of California, San Francisco. "A virus that can spread more readily from human to human has an evolutionary advantage," she said.

This mutation appears to produce a high viral load in the nose and the mouth, which are the main ways COVID-19 spreads. The more virus, the higher chance of infecting someone else.

Having a new and more transmissible strain of the virus in the U.S. makes it even more important for people to wear masks, socially distance and avoid groups, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.

"As a society we really need to commit ourselves to putting some of our impatience aside. When the going gets tough, the tough get going," he said.

The nation is headed into a very difficult time in terms of health care, with tremendous stress being placed on hospital facilities. The new strain could make that even worse.

"We need to think ahead. Stay home on New Year’s Eve," he said.

Contributing: Elizabeth Weise