3/77 sequences from the latest Netherlands upload are BA.3.2 as well as 4/86 seqs from Queensland, Australia, consistent w/the steady, slow growth we've seen in Germany, the UK, Ireland, & much of Australia. 1/4

Roughly 25 % (3 of 13) of SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Ireland submitted to GISAID today are BA.3.2.2. 🎃

First BA.3.2.2 from England not yet on #Gisaid it is a RE.1.1 imported from Australia in the S:H49Y branch and has further S:V1228L in the spike nextstrain.org/fetch/genome...

Everybody who read my book will have heard about some of the background story from Dr. Yan. Now the NYT did a longer dive that characterizes her as somewhat between a victim of Guo Wengui's propaganda operation and trapped in a cult. I can add a few more notes on this maybe... 1/

Nederland (het @rivm-nl.bsky.social) heeft vandaag weer 1 BA.3.2.1* (Noord-Holland) naar GISAID geüpload en voor het eerst ook 3 BA.3.2.2*, waarvan er de laatste tijd al meerdere o.a. in Duitsland zijn gezien. De BA.3.2.2* zijn gevonden in Limburg, Brabant en Noord-Holland. Uit 77 samples.

BA3.2 has previously been detected in Germany in the federal states Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Berlin.

News on BA.3.2. - Now called Cicada and designated Variant Under Monitoring (VUM) by WHO

Here's an animated map showing the spread of the BA.3.2.* variant, nicknamed "Cicada". The other main hotspots have been South Africa, Western Australia (since July) and Germany (from mid-October). Locations are approximate - typically country and state/province. 🧵

Another US wastewater detection of BA.3.2.2 (from CDC-NWSS surveillance) This time from Austin on 11/19 The score: Wastewater 2 Patient surveillance 0

/1 A JN.1-like development is expected for BA.3.2 - acquisition of mutation(s) that increase ACE2 binding and/or antibody evasion followed by massive global spread.

A BA.3.2.2 sequence from New York (EPI_ISL_20262473) was submitted to GISAID yesterday. Sample collected Nov 17 via airport screening. Travel history: Kenya. Supports the idea raised by @ryanhisner.bsky.social that this sublineage is circulating widely. #BA32

The first BA.3.2.2 sequence from South Australia has appeared, collection date November 22. No major new mutations, though it does get a synonymous mutation (A4576T) that, together with T4579A, creates a more extensive TRS-like motif (previously found in BA.5.2.23).

BA.3.2.* appearing for the first time in the QLD wastewater variant charts. 2 sewage plants: Longholme and Merrimac. Merrimac looks around 15%. 🧵

New BA.3.2.2 from Scotland, EPI_ISL_20261526, collected November 7.

Already two more BA.3.2.2 from Ireland today, both closely related to the first (and both with the ORF1a:∆141-143 deletion also found in most European BA.3.2.1). Only real change was N:T271S in one of the two. (A29086T was inherited, but C->G muts like this are very rare.)

/1 The large deletion removing ORF7/8 together with Δ141–143 in Nsp1 in BA.3.2 likely reduce its capacity to counter the interferon (IFN) system and to interfere with host cell translation, respectively.

BA.3.2 still active in New Zealand. 🎃

Another US BA.3.2 wastewater detection. This time from Bristol County, RI on Nov 11. It was about a third of the seqs. I wonder if it was someone who flew back from Australia through SF? @ryanhisner.bsky.social @snpoehlm.bsky.social @rajlabn.bsky.social

BA.3.2.2 arrived in Ireland - EPI_ISL_20259113 🎃

4 new BA.3.2.2 sequences from South Africa submitted to GISAID today - 4.5% of total sequences from South Africa. 4 new BA.3.2.2 sequences from New South Wales submitted on 24.11., 4.5% of total sequences from Australia. Now waiting for new sequences from Germany… 👀

This is a very sad day for public health and evidence-based science in general.

Info on the 8 new BA.3.2 sequences from Germany: ➡️All are BA.3.2.2, deposited in GISAID. ➡️3 were collected in late October, 5 in November. ➡️Samples originate from Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Berlin. #BA32

Overview of global BA.3.2 sequences, plus reference to 8 new sequences from Germany

BA.3.2 has been detected again in the USA.

Our recent study on BA.3.2 is now available. Thanks to Markus Hoffmann, Lu Zhang and Georg Behrens for the great collaboration. Here’s a brief summary of our findings:

BA.3.2.2 is gaining a foothold in New South Wales. #BA32

Germany will invest in research on Long COVID and related conditions — great news!

Proud that Markus Hoffmann and I made the 2025 Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers list. Huge thanks to everyone in the Infection Biology Unit at the German Primate Center - honoured and grateful. @primatenzentrum.bsky.social clarivate.com/highly-cited...

BA.3.2 was first detected in Germany in April 2025, with a second detection in September - both single sequences (BA.3.2.2). Now 4 new sequences: EPI_ISL_20243694, EPI_ISL_20243686, EPI_ISL_20243677, and EPI_ISL_20243675.

BA.3.2 on the road to dominance in Western Australia? The Great Pumpkin is getting serious. 🎃🎃🎃

Concerning.

Can't emphasize how damaging this is. A single non-scientist—Peter Bogner—holds all power & makes all decisions at GISAID & provides no justifications for any of them, except blatantly false ones. He has that power because he conned rich & powerful people into giving it to him. Enough.

BA.3.2 update: here the four (slighty) different BA.3.2 circulating branches: github.com/sars-cov-2-v...

Worrisome. Outbreak response thrives on genuine global collaboration. bsky.app/profile/theg...

It was a great pleasure presenting @vigilant-eu.bsky.social at the @defender-project.bsky.social International Symposium! 🌟 Inspiring talks, fantastic collab opportunities - grateful for the experience! #EUResearch

BA.3.2, the great pumpkin, is touring Europe. 🎃🎃

🚨 NEW: The majority holder of the world's genetic sequence data is a bad actor who can cut off access to critics and competing services. We've tolerated this for years, and now it threatens the pandemic treaty. Time for WHO to step in. With @ctrlalttim.com: www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/to-f...

Nextstrain's daily-updated tree of SARS-CoV-2 genomes was my gateway into the world of viral phylogenetics in early 2020, and Nextstrain's beautiful interactive tree display is crucial to making usher.bio results usable. GISAID cutting off data harms global surveillance efforts. 🧵👇

Continued surveillance and variant analysis is important, as highlighted by the emergence and spread of BA.3.2. Lack of data sharing by GISAID is bad news.

A new BA.3.2 sequence. This time from the Netherlands, collected October 25. BA.3.2.1, EPI_ISL_20237246 🎃🎃🎃

And a new BA.3.2.2 sequence from Slovenia (EPI_ISL_20236520, collected on November 2) - a first for the country. The Great Pumpkin remains active in different parts of the world...🎃

COVID-19 remains a significant public health issue - continued surveillance is important. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The Great Pumpkin, BA.3.2, is back. Two new BA.3.2.2 sequences from Western Australia, collected on October 17: EPI_ISL_20236455 and EPI_ISL_20236456.

arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833 @zachhensel.bsky.social has revisited Bruttel et al’s preprint and shows why the analysis of RE sites in SARS2 was deeply flawed. Spoiler: the sites are natural, the pattern explicable by recombination & the authors stacked the deck omitting some seqs and duplicating others.

So we have four branches of BA.3.2 circulating now two BA.3.2.1 related each other but distinct and two BA.3.2.2 related but distinct. My take about this is that both lineages are enough tuned to not disappear , with BA.3.2.2 having the potential of expand further.

Maybe an even more inside baseball in these documents -- but it's key: No mention of furin cleavage site in the slides... which matches a remark made by Peter Daszak in an email to David Morens in May 2021, made public by FOIA ▫️1/8 #CovidOrigin www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/u...

This study (preprint) looks at authentic BA.3.2.

It appears we have a premiere: the first BA.3.2 sequence from Denmark — EPI_ISL_20232495. @ryanhisner.bsky.social @josetteschoenma.bsky.social @siamosolocani.bsky.social @siamosolocani.bsky.social

That would have been big news a few years ago, unfortunately the great science that gives important understanding in coronaviruses is now back to the small circle of scientists. Anyway: A fully functional furin cleavage site in a bat betacorarnavirus! Congrats to the authors!

BA.3.2 made it to New Zealand 👀