NEW YORK — A New York City anime convention held late last year likely wasn’t an omicron superspreader event, as many had feared, new reports show.
One of the first confirmed U.S. cases of the omicron variant was found in early December in a Minnesota man who attended the convention, raising concerns about a mass outbreak at the gathering of some 53,000 fans of the film and TV animation style. Studies released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found no evidence of widespread transmission at the convention beyond a cluster of of the Minnesota participant’s close contacts.
Among results obtained for 4,560 attendees, 2.6% tested positive, according to the CDC. Of 20 specimens analyzed genetically, 15 cases were linked to delta, the dominant variant preceding omicron. The remaining five were tied to omicron and were all part of the cluster of close contacts.
The reports show the effect that prevention measures likely had on limiting spread in the large indoor gathering. Ventilation at the event and requirements for attendees to be vaccinated and masked likely helped keep transmission low, the studies said.
The findings suggest that transmission primarily occurred in indoor unmasked activities outside of official convention events, the CDC said. Attendees who tested positive were more likely than those who tested negative to report going to bars and clubs and eating or drinking indoors near other people for at least 15 minutes.
The cluster of contacts to the Minnesota man were also together unmasked at restaurants and bars, the CDC said. Among 23 of the man’s close contacts that received testing, 16 were positive. And among 18 household contacts of who got tested, six were positive.
The CDC also said that it didn’t identify clusters of cases through social media monitoring and communications with local health departments.
“When widespread transmission happens in highly connected communities like this, health departments usually hear from cases who attended an event and who mention that their friends are getting sick,” the agency said in a statement. “People tend to share their health status in online social communities and share reports about friends feeling ill.”
