Coronavirus, mysterious variant in the sewers of New York- Corriere.it - D1SoftballNews.com

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT WASHINGTON – American scientists have identified a mysterious variant of the coronavirus in the New York sewer system.

an unprecedented sequence that has been circulating in wastewater for more than a year, without, however, having left any trace among the population of the metropolis: the scenario continues to be dominated by Omicron and, in an increasingly residual part, from Delta.

The findings of the discovery were published on Thursday February 3 in the journal Nature Communications. At present, there is no evidence that this version of Covid poses a danger to human health.

The virus was identified during a sample survey of the wastewater of 14 New York plantswhich began in June 2020. Genetic fragments appeared regularly in four to five sites, the location of which was not disclosed.

Another report comes from Californiaaccording to data collected by the University of Berkeley. What could be the origin of this new potential pitfall? There are basically two hypotheses on the field. The first: it could be a sequence that has so far escaped the swabs. But a theory considered unlikely by virologists because the particles are visible only and always in the same drains, while if there had been an infection, it would now be traceable elsewhere as well.

Second theory: the mutation comes from the animal world. The number one suspects are the mouses, who dominate the sewers, and beyond, of New York. But other guests are not excluded: from squirrels to skunks (here an essay by Sandro Modeo on the theme of continuous interbreeding between animals and humans in the Covid exchange: Omicron could have come to humans from mice).

Of course, so far, the coronavirus hasn’t touched the rats, although Dr. Marc Johnson, one of the virologists who signed the article in Nature Communications, tells the New York Times that experiments have shown how the mysterious variant can infect the cells of different rodent species. The results, however, are not definitive. The research continues.