What Happens When a Superspreader Event Keeps Spreading

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A February conference by the drug company Biogen was initially thought to have infected 99 people. By the end of October, it was feared that the number had grown as high as 300,000.

WASHINGTON — When it was disclosed last spring that the coronavirus had stealthily infected 99 people after the Cambridge, Mass., pharmaceutical company Biogen held a two-day conference in February, it helped add the term “superspreader” to the pandemic lexicon.

Little did anyone know how super the spread would actually become.

A new analysis of the Biogen event at a Boston hotel has concluded that the coronavirus strains loosed at the meeting have since migrated worldwide, infecting about 245,000 Americans — and potentially as many as 300,000 — by the end of October. Continue reading.