New COVID variant XEC now in half of states. Here’s what to know.

September 18, 2024 / 3:54 PM EDT / CBS News

COVID-19 variant trackers are now closely watching the rise of a new virus variant called XEC, which has been spotted around the world and in half of states across the United States.

Health officials are so far not raising concern about this variant, unlike some previous, more highly mutated strains that worried experts.

XEC’s emergence comes as COVID-19 trends remain “high” but are now largely slowing after a summer wave of infections that peaked last month. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention modelers estimate that the virus will likely climb again over the winter, peaking in mid-January.

Here’s the latest we know about the new XEC variant.

Which states have reported XEC cases?

At least 25 states have already reported at least one case with the strain’s characteristic mutations, according to preliminary data obtained from the global virus database GISAID from more than 100 cases in the U.S.

Labs in New Jersey have reported the most XEC infections – at least 15 – of any state. Only California and Virginia have also reported at least 10 cases so far.

New Jersey’s detections come in large part from samples collected through the CDC’s testing program of arriving travelers clearing customs at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Some of the earliest U.S. cases were reported by scientists at a lab in Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, sampled from patients in July.

“We do not see a particular trend. We should keep an eye on the samples coming and continue genomic screening more broadly,” said Carla Finkielstein, head of the institute’s molecular diagnostics lab, in an email.

Finkielstein said that the majority of their samples come from hospitals across the southwestern part of Virginia, though it is unclear why exactly they were tested.

“Unfortunately, we do not have demographic data on these patients, so we don’t know whether the patients were hospitalized or, for example, if their samples were collected during an emergency department visit,” Finkielstein said.