CDC wants anime fans to help them better understand the Omicron variant

Anime fans attend a convention in Manhattan.
(Image credit: Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hopes that tens of thousands of people who attended an anime convention in New York City will be able to help scientists get a clearer understanding of how the Omicron coronavirus variant operates.

The variant was first detected in southern Africa in late November. The anime convention was held in Manhattan Nov. 19-21, and a Minnesota man who attended the event felt sick when he returned home, and later tested positive for COVID-19. He was the first reported case of Omicron in Minnesota, and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that the CDC is reaching out to others who were at the convention to gather information that might shed a light on how Omicron spreads.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.