Early Detection and Surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 Variant BA.3.2 — Worldwide, November 2024–February 2026

The SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.3.2 was first identified in South Africa on November 22, 2024. BA.3.2 has approximately 70-75 substitutions and deletions in the gene sequence of the spike protein relative to JN.1 and its descendant, LP.8.1, the antigens used in the 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccines. CDC is using a multimodal SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance approach to monitor the emergence and spread of BA.3.2 and other SARS-CoV-2 variants internationally and within the United States. The first U.S. BA.3.2 detection occurred on June 27, 2025, through CDC's Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance program in a participant traveling to the United States from the Netherlands. The first U.S. detection of BA.3.2 in a clinical…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• AP
  Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
• CS
  California State Water Resources Control Board