Mysterious coronavirus variant found in the sewers of New York

A coronavirus variant first identified in New York in June 2020 was found in the sewers of the Big Apple, but mysteriously has not been identified in any patient. New York continues to be dominated by the Delta and Omicron variants.
News of the variant was published on Thursday February 3 in the journal Nature Communications.
Sample surveys of the wastewater in 14 of New York’s plants identified the strain in four to five of the sites, and always in the same ones. The location of these plants has not been disclosed although the variant is not believed to be a risk to humans.
The information collected by the University of Berkeley has left scientists scratching their heads,
Essentially there are two hypotheses. The first, is that the sequence has so far escaped the swabs. But that is 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.
The second theory is that the mutation comes from animals with the number one suspects mice. They dominate the sewers of New York, however so do other animals from squirrels to skunks.
Of course, so far, the coronavirus hasn’t touched 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.
As with all coronavirus variants research continues into the variant found in New York’s sewers.

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