Top Infectious Disease News Stories Week of March 22 - March 28

COVID-19 Variant Emerges as a Closely Watched SARS-CoV-2 Lineage with Immune Escape Potential

A newly identified SARS-CoV-2 variant, BA32, is drawing increased attention from global public health officials as it spreads across multiple continents and demonstrates a notable ability to evade immune defenses. First detected in South Africa in November 2024, BA32 has since been identified in at least 23 countries and continues to appear in both international travelers and domestic surveillance systems in the United States.

The findings were published in last week’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Shorter Testing Window May Confirm Hepatitis C Cure Sooner

A new study from University of California, San Francisco is challenging long-standing clinical timelines for confirming a cure for hepatitis C, offering a faster and more accessible approach for patients—especially those in community-based settings.

For years, patients treated with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have been required to wait at least 12 weeks after completing therapy to confirm cure, known as sustained virologic response at 12 weeks (SVR12). While DAAs cure more than 95% of patients, this extended follow-up period can create significant barriers for vulnerable populations, including people who inject drugs and those experiencing homelessness.

Pfizer and Valneva Report Vaccine Efficacy Data for Their Lyme Disease Candidate

Pfizer and Valneva have announced topline results from their phase 3 VALOR trial evaluating PF-07307405 (also known as LB6V, formerly VLA15), an investigational Lyme disease vaccine candidate. The study showed that the vaccine achieved efficacy rates exceeding 70% in preventing confirmed cases of Lyme disease during the second season following vaccination.¹

Lyme disease can cause potentially serious consequences—where individuals and families face symptoms that can disrupt daily life, work, and long-term health—and there is currently no vaccine available,” Annaliesa Anderson, senior vice president and chief vaccines officer at Pfizer, said in a statement. “The efficacy shown in the VALOR study of more than 70% is highly encouraging and creates confidence in the vaccine’s potential to protect against this disease that can be debilitating.”¹

Measles Update: March 27, 2026

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported there were 1,575* cases of measles in the US as of March 26, 2026. Week-over week, that is an additional 88 cases and a 5.92% increase. Last week, the federal agency reported there was 1,487* confirmed cases.¹ This marks a decrease in the number of cases from the previous week that saw a 9.18% increase in cases the week ending, March 19.

Perilous Journey: Flying Patients With Ebola From Africa to the US

In July 2014, two American medical volunteers who were helping to treat the Ebola outbreak in west Africa became infected with the disease. As soon as the healthcare workers became sick, the organization that had sent them, began looking for a way to get them home. In the process they reached out to several European countries and African nations, but no one would take them into care. Countries would not even let them fly over their airspace for fear of a mechanical problem and the plane having to land in their country and potentially exposing people to the disease.

At that point, the mission changed to bringing the two Americans directly to the US and treating them at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Author Kevin Hazzard wrote about the mission in his book, No One’s Coming.