After the Delta, theOmicron, the BA.2, a new variant, not yet named, could be about to be discovered not in humans, but… in New York rats. This is shown by a study in the journal Nature published at the beginning of February 2022, which reports on a mysterious variant so far unlisted discovered in the sewers of New York.
As in many cities, wastewater is being studied in New York City boroughs to monitor the presence of new variants. However, last year, mysterious fragments of Covid-19 were found there: scientists then tried to trace their origin. Their findings are that the “cryptic bloodlines” emerging from the city’s underworld are unlike any known Covid-19 variants.
However, according to the study, it is quite possible “that these (mysterious) lines are derived from an animal host such as a rodent”leading scientists to speculate that a new version of the virus may appear first in rats.
Rats infected by drinking sewage or eating feces
For the co-author of the study, John Dennehy, a virologist at Queens College interviewed by the New York Post, it is possible that the New York rats became infected by drinking sewage or eating feces. Rodents, he added, were not susceptible to the original strain of Covid-19, but they could be infected by its Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and subsequent editions.
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Although the researchers found no evidence that COVID-19 is circulating in the New York City rat population, they nevertheless believe that these animals are “probable candidates” for the next, as yet unknown, disease variant. .
If this happens, in the best case, it will be hoped that “the new variant can only infect rats and loses the ability to infect humans”. In the worst case, it will be feared that he “spreads among humans”summarizes the co-author of the study interviewed by the New York Post.
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