A NEW SARS-CoV-2 variant, BA.3.2, has now been reported in 23 countries since it was first detected in South Africa in November 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported this month.
Detections of the strain, dubbed the “cicada” variant, began increasing in September 2025.
BA.3.2
CDC tracks COVID-19 variants internationally using digital public health surveillance.
Since the start of the pandemic, new variants with mutations in the spike protein continue to emerge.
Mutations in the spike protein can affect transmissibility and immune evasion, which demands periodic reformulation of the COVID-19 vaccine composition, CDC reported.
BA.3.2 marks a “new lineage” of “highly divergent” SARS-Cov-2, it warned, genetically distinct from JN.1 lineages that have circulated in the USA since January 2024.
Tracking the New Strain
The first BA.3.2 lineage sequence was detected in a respiratory sample collected on 22nd November 2024 in South Africa.
SARS-CoV-2 virus was isolated from a nasopharyngeal swab from a 5-year-old boy and subsequently designated BA.3.2.1.
On 17th March 2025, the strain was detected in Mozambique, then in the Netherlands on 12th April, and in Germany on 29th April.
What followed was a rise in detections of the new lineage starting in September 2025, with the highest number of notifications during the week of the 7th December.
As of 11th February 2026, the cicada strain has been detected in at least 23 countries, including in USA travellers returning from Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, and the UK.
Since November 2024, it has been detected in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania.
From November 2025–January 2026, weekly detections of BA.3.2 increased to make up around 30% of COVID-19 sequences reported in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands.
This did not, however, cause a substantial increase in overall COVID-19 incidence compared with previous years.
Implications for Public Health
CDC noted that, due to limited genomic detection and surveillance capacities in many countries worldwide, recorded detections likely underrepresent the extent of the spread of the new strain.
It warned that the BA.3.2 strain has efficiently evaded antibodies – likely due to spike protein mutations.
CDC highlighted the need for ongoing genomic surveillance strategies and observational assessments of vaccine effectiveness.
In the wake of the pandemic, the public health impact of COVID-19, whilst counteracted by widespread infection and vaccine-conferred immunity, remains significant.
An estimated 390,000–550,000 hospitalisations and 45,000–64,000 deaths occurred during the 2024–25 respiratory virus season, CDC reported.
The cicada strain “could be associated with seasonal increases in COVID-19 activity”, the public health institute warned, which it aims to mitigate through timely response to emerging variants like BA.3.2.
Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Early detection and surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 Variant BA.3.2 – Worldwide, November 2024 – February 2026. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/75/wr/mm7510a1.htm. Last accessed: 30th March 2026.
Featured image: Artinun on Adobe Stock
