Memphis labs to have technology to detect new strain

Baptist Memorial doctors say variant likely in region

As a more contagious variant of COVID-19 continues to be detected in new areas throughout the U.S., Shelby County health officials say local labs will soon have the technology to detect whether the variant is actively transmitted throughout the Mid-south.

The region’s labs already have the ability to detect what is known as an “S drop”, which is an indicator to scientists that change is occurring in the viral samples. Those specimens can then be sent to Center for Disease Control labs for further analysis.

The variant of COVID-19, known as B.1.1.7, was first detected in the United Kingdom the fall of 2020. By early December, the strain accounted for more than 60% of cases in London.

The variant is not thought to be more severe, but its ability to spread even

more quickly than the original strain of SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has put public health officials on high alert. The variant could further strain hospital systems already under stress from COVID-19. On Monday, doctors at Baptist Memorial Health Care noted the new variant was likely in the region already, undetected.

On Tuesday, Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter said that the region's lab system, comprised of both private labs and research labs at public universities, are working to increase their ability to perform genetic sequencing of virus samples collected.

“I do believe we will have the capacity very soon to do sequencing to pick up when we have that new strain,” Haushalter said.

The sequencing will enable labs to identify the B.1.1.7 variant; it will also offer insight to the behavior of the viral variants on a local level.

Two of the region's labs already have such capabilities, and Haushalter is hopeful those capabilities will expand in more labs, soon. The information this technology can provide is not only useful in identifying B.1.1.7, its useful for identifying the virus' behavior within the community.

“You want to have a good sense [of variants] in the community, not just for when you have the UK strain, but also, what are the different variants you have in a given community,” Haushalter said during the joint COVID-19 task force briefing.

“Does it vary by geography? Are there specific qualities relevant to that strain. For example, is it more transmissible? Do people tend to be sicker? Does it affect children differently?” Haushalter said.

Once B.1.1.7 is identified in the Memphis area, the presence of the strain could impact upcoming health directives, which are formal health department guidelines and regulations.

Much of what is already in place — curfews for restaurants and drinking holes, capacity caps for businesses, and mask mandates — will be used in the fight against B.1.1.7, but if the strain is detected in Shelby County, then “that will be taken into consideration,” Haushalter said.

“There's two things that are being looked at; whether there's increased transmissibility or increased virility, which would mean that we would need to make changes accordingly,” Haushalter said.

There is no evidence that B.1.1.7 causes more severe illness or increased risk of death, according to the CDC.

USA Today reporter Grace Hauck and Commercial Appeal reporter Corinne S. Kennedy contributed to this report.

“I do believe we will have the capacity very soon to do sequencing to pick up when we have that new strain.”

Dr. Elisa Haushalter director of the Shelby County Health Department

MAX GERSH/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Lab technician Zenobia Neal sets up for a COVID-19 test at Poplar Healthcare in Memphis in July of 2020. Local labs are acquiring the ability to detect a new variant of SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, which experts believe may be already spreading in the region.