Scientists launch manhunt for Ohio Covid patient of 2 years whose virus is so mutated it could spark 'concerning' outbreak
COLUMBUS, OHIO: Scientists are attempting to locate an individual residing in Ohio whom they suspect to be the longest-standing COVID patient on record. The patient, believed to live in the Columbus area, is carrying a highly mutated strain of the virus that experts have never encountered before and deemed as a "variant of concern" if it were to start circulating in the population.
Dr Marc Johnson, a microbiologist at the University of Missouri, detected the virus through wastewater sampling and traced it back to early 2021. It is persistently present within a 40-mile radius, indicating that an individual in the area is carrying and shedding it through their stool. This means the strain is being shed by an individual who regularly commutes between Columbus and Washington Court House. Although Dr Johnson is unsure how the person has managed to stay infected for so long.
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An infected person in Ohio has been carrying a 'cryptic' strain of Covid
The Missouri team has been examining COVID samples from sewage across the US in search of 'cryptic' Covid strains. This method has been used as a tool through the pandemic as the virus shows up in stool before someone suffers symptoms, and could detect the length of the outbreak in advance. "We reverse analyze [wastewater] to see if anything in there that doesn't match any lineages," Dr Johnson told Daily Mail.
Individuals who carry viruses for prolonged periods of time may have weakened immune systems, which can make it difficult for their body to eliminate the virus instead leading to the development of new mutations. Many scientists believe the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants all emerged this way. Last year, Dr Johnson's team began to scan wastewater data from Ohio and detected the virus in Columbus, the largest city in the state with a population of 1 million, and in Washington Court House, a small city of nearly 15,000.
'There is a good chance they do not know they are affected!'
The scientist believes the person lives in Washington Court House and commutes to Columbus, and could be an individual traveling for work or even a student, as Columbus is home to Ohio State University with more than 66,000 students. Although Dr. Johnson and his team are uncertain if the suspect is just one patient. He speculated that the strain has mutated to the point that it carries nonexisting traits which could pose danger if it spreads. "If this was circulating, it would immediately be declared a variant of concern," Dr Johnson said.
However, there are chances the virus has mutated within this person to the extent that it is not fit to spread and lives within the host while going relatively undetected. The patient carrying the mutated strain of the virus is probably either asymptomatic or experiencing symptoms similar to those of a bowel condition like Crohn's disease. "There is a good chance they do not know they are affected," he continued. Dr Johnson's primary objective is to locate this patient in order to provide them with the necessary medical attention. Additionally, he aims to collect samples from the patient to further study the cryptic strain.