A new COVID-19 variant known as “cicada” is making headlines across the United States, raising questions about how concerned people should be.
The BA.3.2 variant was first detected in South Africa in November 2024, and cases in the United States began increasing in September 2025, according to the CDC. The variant has been found in travelers, airplane wastewater samples, clinical patient samples, and wastewater monitoring across multiple states.
Health officials say the variant may be highly transmissible and could partially evade antibodies from previous infections or vaccinations. Because of this, experts are continuing to monitor its spread closely.
The variant has already been detected in many states, including California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and several others across the country.
Dr. Douglas Drevets from OU Health said the variant is likely already circulating and does not appear to cause more severe illness than previous variants. However, researchers are still studying how it interacts with existing immunity from vaccines and prior infections.
The CDC warned that new variants capable of evading immunity could lead to seasonal increases in COVID-19 activity, which is why monitoring and vaccine updates remain important.
Although COVID-19 is no longer as severe as during the pandemic, CDC data shows it still caused hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths during the 2024–2025 respiratory virus season.
Symptoms of the cicada variant appear similar to other COVID variants, including runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing, sore throat, cough, and changes in smell or taste.
