The World Health Organization (WHO) and public health experts in the United States have raised alarm over a new COVID-19 variant.
The rapid spread of the ‘Cicada’ variant has led to warnings that cases could increase if preventive measures are not implemented, especially at a time when flu is common.
What is the Cicada variant?
The new variant was initially identified as ‘BA3.2’ before being given the moniker Cicada due to its undetected increase in numbers, similar to the reproduction of cicada insects.
Cicada was first discovered in South Africa back in 2024, then later on spread to multiple territories while still being outnumbered by other variants.
It is now present in 23 nations, the majority in north-east and eastern Europe, with Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands accounting for the largest number of reported Cicada cases.
The latest figures have revealed that 30% of the COVID-19 cases detected in those European nations were Cicada variants.
Due to its contagious nature and complex features, the WHO classified the Cicada variant as a “highly mutated” variant of COVID-19, but it causes no worse illnesses than those caused by other variants of COVID-19.
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Spread of Cicada variant in the US
The first case of the Cicada variant in the US was from a traveler visiting the country in June 2025.
The patient tested positive for COVID-19, was swiftly quarantined and given medical attention.
However, cases of the variant have been gradually increasing since then, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stating that March figures revealed at least 4% of COVID-19 cases have strains of the Cicada variant.
The agency also confirmed that the variant was present in at least 25 states.
Stanford University’s WastewaterSCAN project then revealed that, as of April 8, 20% of the wastewater it tested had strains of the Cicada variant, indicating that it had already spread like wildfire in US territories.
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Experts assure situation still under control
Despite it spreading undetected and gradually becoming a more common variant, health experts have said that the Cicada variant is not expected to cause a surge of COVID-19 infections inside or outside the US.
They added that the Cicada variant remains dwarfed by other variants, including the XFG and NB.1.8.1 variants.
Its symptoms are also the same as those of its predecessors, which are often comparable to having the flu.
Nevertheless, experts urge the public to seek medical help and quarantine themselves should they experience symptoms of COVID-19.
“If it had really special advantages, we’d probably have seen it take off and dominate globally relatively quickly,” said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in an interview with TODAY.com.
“We didn’t see that, but it’s not going away, so it’s something to keep an eye on.”
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