MAP: ‘Cicada’ COVID variant detected in these states

(NEXSTAR) –  A COVID-19 variant with a catchy nickname is causing concern, despite making up a small fraction of current cases.

The BA.3.2 variant was first detected in South Africa in late 2024 before making its way to the United States, where it’s been increasingly detected in wastewater samples since September of 2025.

It earned the nickname the “Cicada” variant since it mutated from the omicron strain, which has been somewhat dormant for years – just like cicada broods rest dormant underground before emerging every few years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses wastewater surveillance as a tool to survey the spread of COVID-19 and its many variants. The agency has also detected the BA.3.2 in nasal swabs from travelers and clinical samples from patients sick with the virus.

So far, the BA.3.2 variant has been confirmed in more than half of U.S. states: California, Connecticut,........

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