First P.1 variant from Brazil identified in Illinois by Northwestern scientists

Northwestern Medicine has identified the first case in Illinois of the COVID-19 variant called P.1., which was first found earlier this year in travelers from Brazil during routine airport screening in Tokyo, Japan. The variant has subsequently been identified in several other countries. The case in Chicago was identified by the Pathogen Genomics research team at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine through sequencing analysis of a COVID-19 specimen.