New COVID-19 Variant May Come From These Mutations: Scientists Discover 4 Cryptic Variants of Coronavirus In NYC

According to the scientists, the origin of these mutations has not been verified yet, however, they believe that one of the possible sources of these mutations could be the rats that frequent New York City's sewer system.

The first strain of COVID-19 was found in China's Wuhan city since then the virus has spread to almost all the corners of the world and has mutated several times to form new variants with more powerful characteristics.

Even as the world battles the highly mutated and transmissible Omicron variant, a team of US researchers has detected at least four "cryptic" variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in samples of wastewater from New York City's public sewer system.

The Origin of These Mutations

Marc Johnson, Professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri and a co-corresponding author on the study which is published in Nature Communications journal., believes the results suggest the "cryptic" mutations they identified in New York City could be linked to possible animal origins.

According to the scientists, the origin of these mutations has not been verified yet, however, they believe that one of the possible sources of these mutations could be the rats that frequent New York City's sewer system.

Speaking to the media, Johnson said, "For instance, we still don't know where the Omicron variant came from, but it had to come from somewhere." He further added, "These variants are bubbling up everywhere, including Omicron, which eventually spilled into the general population and wreaked havoc. We think these weird lineages could be where the next variant of Covid-19 comes from."

The Researchers Observed Unusual Mutations

"They were different, but all of them had similar mutations in common at one particular location on the virus -- Q498. What's amazing is that in most of the samples from New York City, the Q in Q498 had turned into a Y, or glutamine into tyrosine. If you look at the database, there was not, and continues to not be, a human patient who has had that mutation," Johnson said.

The researchers noted a possible explanation could be a biological process called convergent evolution. "An animal in Missouri is not going to mix with the same type of animal in New York City," said John Dennehy, a virologist, and professor of biology at Queens College, City University of New York. "Therefore, the evolution of the virus in each geographic area is independent of each other, but because it's the same animal, the virus looks the same in both places," he added.

(With inputs from IANS)