(CNN) -
Scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speak with UK health officials to learn more about British data suggesting a new variant of the coronavirus could be more deadly. .
"CDC has reached out to UK officials and is reviewing their new mortality data associated with variant B.1.1.7," a CDC official told CNN on Saturday, using the variant's scientific name that it was first seen in the UK in November.
A UK report released Friday says there is "a realistic chance" that the new variant has a higher death rate than other variants.
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While the data is not conclusive, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that "there is some evidence that the new variant ... may be associated with a higher degree of mortality."
A notice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seen in Atlanta on December 10.
Credit: Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images
Variant found in 22 US states.
The CDC model shows that this new variant, which has been shown to spread especially rapidly, could become the predominant variant in the United States in March.
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So far, only 195 cases of the new variant have been detected in the U.S., according to the CDC, but public health officials believe that many more cases go undetected.
Cases have been found in 22 states, the CDC says, and California and Florida have found an especially high number.
So far, studies suggest that current vaccines will protect against the new variant and that the use of masks, social distancing and hand hygiene are key to controlling the spread of the virus.
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Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and a member of President Joe Biden's coronavirus transition team, said he has reviewed the UK report, as well as other data that has not been made public, and is "convinced" that the new variant is more mortal.
"The data is mounting, and some of it I can't share, that clearly supports that B.1.1.7 is causing more serious illness and more deaths," said Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
"We already know that this variant has increased transmission, so this is very bad news."
A CDC adviser said it would be ideal if American doctors could check and see how patients with the new variant behave compared to patients infected with other variants.
However, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, noted that this could be difficult because genomic sequencing - the laboratory work necessary to detect new strains - is not very robust in the United States. United.
"Our current ability to determine if your particular patient has this new strain is very limited, so this really reinforces the notion that other countries have much more capacity to do this than we do," said Schaffner, a member of the Advisory Committee for CDC on immunization practices.
The UK has one of the strongest genomic sequencing programs in the world.
Their report provides details of several studies comparing the severity of the new variant with previous ones.
UK Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance cited the mortality data, adding that the evidence is not yet strong and the data remains uncertain.
“If you take… a 60-year-old man, the average risk is that for every 1,000 infected people, approximately 10 would be expected to die from the virus.
With the new variant, for every 1,000 people infected, it is estimated that approximately 13 or 14 people die, "he explained on Friday.
"That's the rate of change for that type of age group, an increase from 10 to 13 or 14 out of 1,000 and you will see a similar type of relative increase in risk in different age groups as well," he added.
The analyzes cited in the UK report include those by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London, the University of Exeter and Public Health England.
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