COVID mystery found in NYC wastewater

NEW YORK - New York City's wastewater contains all sorts of weird things, including COVID-19.

According to a new paper from a team of researchers, COVID was found in New York City's wastewater, but the viral fragments were never detected in humans. 

The researchers say those signs point to a new, undetected COVID variant.

"The curious thing with the many similarities we've seen with NYC wastewater and the omicron variant and that to me is somewhat concerning," said John Dennehy, a virologist at Queens College and one of the researchers.

According to Dennehy, there is no clear-cut answer to where the samples are coming from, but he surmises that they could be coming from animals.

"Likely three animal suspects in NYC," Dennehy said. "They include cats, rats, and dogs. Getting access to samples from them would be extremely helpful."

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The paper claims there is no evidence that these so-called "cryptic lineages," which were found over a year ago, pose a health risk to humans, but Dennehy says that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep a close eye on what's found in our sewers.

"It could change," Dennehy said. "We know Omicron came out of nowhere and we can't pinpoint where Omicron came from."

Scientists say pinpointing a source from this potential variant won't be easy, but the reason for their wastewater surveillance is to keep an eye on COVID-19.