{"id":64319,"date":"2026-03-29T21:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T01:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=64319"},"modified":"2026-03-29T21:26:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T01:26:33","slug":"health-officials-are-closely-monitoring-a-new-highly-mutated-covid-19-variant-officially-known-as-ba-3-2-which-has-been-nicknamed-cicada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/03\/29\/health-officials-are-closely-monitoring-a-new-highly-mutated-covid-19-variant-officially-known-as-ba-3-2-which-has-been-nicknamed-cicada\/","title":{"rendered":"Health officials are closely monitoring a new, highly mutated COVID-19 variant officially known as BA.3.2, which has been nicknamed “Cicada.”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Health officials are closely monitoring a new, highly mutated COVID-19 variant officially known as BA.3.2<\/strong>, which has been nicknamed “Cicada.”<\/strong> As of late March 2026, it has been detected in at least 25 U.S. states and over 20 countries.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here is what you should know about this emerging strain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is it called “Cicada”?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The nickname (coined by biology professor T. Ryan Gregory) refers to the variant’s unusual evolutionary path.<\/sup> Like the insect, the lineage seems to have stayed “underground” for years.<\/sup> It is a descendant of the BA.3 Omicron subvariant<\/strong>, which first appeared in 2022 but mostly disappeared until this new, heavily mutated version resurfaced in late 2024 and began spreading more efficiently in 2025.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Characteristics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • High Mutation Count:<\/strong> Cicada carries between 70 and 75 mutations<\/strong> in its spike protein. This is roughly double the amount seen in recent dominant strains like JN.1.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Immune Evasion:<\/strong> Because of these mutations, early laboratory data suggests the variant is better at evading antibodies from both prior infections and current vaccinations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Presence in the U.S.:<\/strong> While it currently accounts for a very small percentage of total cases (roughly 0.2%), it has been detected primarily through wastewater surveillance and traveler testing in states including California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Symptoms to Watch For<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The symptoms of the Cicada variant are largely similar to previous Omicron strains, though some healthcare providers have noted specific trends:<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • “Razorblade” Sore Throat:<\/strong> A severe, painful sore throat is frequently reported.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Gastrointestinal Issues:<\/strong> Some reports indicate a higher frequency of nausea or diarrhea compared to other recent strains.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Standard Symptoms:<\/strong> Cough, fever, congestion, fatigue, and headache remain common.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Is it More Dangerous?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Current data from the CDC and WHO (which classified it as a “variant under monitoring” in December 2025) suggests that while Cicada may be more contagious, there is no evidence that it causes more severe disease<\/strong> or higher rates of hospitalization than previous variants.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Experts note that while the high number of mutations might make current vaccines less effective at preventing infection<\/em>, they are still expected to provide strong protection against severe illness and death<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Health officials are closely monitoring a new, highly mutated COVID-19 variant officially known as BA.3.2, which has been nicknamed “Cicada.” As of late March 2026, it has been detected in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"6481","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyMlwvMDJcL2NvdmlkLTE5LTExOTB4NTc0LTItZnVsbC5qcGc_Zml0PTEwMjQlMkM0OTQmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJIZWFsdGggb2ZmaWNpYWxzIGFyZSBjbG9zZWx5IG1vbml0b3JpbmcgYSBuZXcsIGhpZ2hseSBtdXRhdGVkIENPVklELTE5IHZhcmlhbnQgb2ZmaWNpYWxseSBrbm93biBhcyBCQS4zLjIsIHdoaWNoIGhhcyBiZWVuIG5pY2tuYW1lZCAmIzgyMjA7Q2ljYWRhLiYjODIyMTsiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ._tGC7U-fqFvJGowQ9YDe3E8S8zwMbjpuvOcOfA35YuUMQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[6481],"tags":[14254,14255,14256],"class_list":["post-64319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-health-officials-are-closely-monitoring-a-new","tag-highly-mutated-covid-19-variant-officially-known-as-ba-3-2","tag-which-has-been-nicknamed-cicada"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64320,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64319\/revisions\/64320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}