Nebraska is the only state in the United States to have not detected a case of the Mu variant of COVID-19, which may render vaccines less effective.
Since being first identified in Colombia in January, the Mu variant has spread to 41 countries, including the United States. Most prevalent in Hawaii and Alaska, the variant accounts for less than one percent of cases in the U.S., but its potential to be more transmissible or resist vaccines and natural immunity have health officials keeping tabs on the mutation.
At least one case of the Mu variant has been detected in the District of Columbia and every state in the U.S. aside from Nebraska, according to Outbreak.info, a website that provides open source data on COVID-19 variants.
California has reported the highest number of Mu variant samples, at 384 cases, but that only accounts for 0.2 percent of the total samples sequenced in the state. As of Friday, Los Angeles County had identified 167 Mu variant cases, according to the Department of Public Health. The cases were found in samples sequenced between June 19 and August 21, with the bulk of the cases being found in July.
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