LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that the first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.351 has been identified in a child in Jackson County. This new variant was originally detected in South Africa in October 2020 and shares some mutations with the B117 variant. The first case of the B117 variant -- originally detected in the United Kingdom -- was identified in Washtenaw County. This case in Michigan is the only one identified at this time. It was first reported in the U.S. on Jan. 28 when it was identified in two people in South Carolina.