Mystery Ohio Person Has a New Kind of COVID, High Viral Load

• “Cryptic” lines of COVID are new versions of the virus that have never been seen before.
• A researcher says someone in Ohio is releasing massive amounts of a new strain of COVID.
• Identifying people with the mysterious strain can help scientists prevent dangerous mutations.

Earlier this year, Marc Johnson, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, announced on social media an appeal: “Help me solve a mystery of the COVID-cryptic lineage,” he . wrote on Twitter.

Johnson told Insider that he was looking at a database of COVID samples when he found a new version (or, “lineage”) of the virus. There is a huge amount of this unique strain — all coming from a mysterious person in Ohio.

The viral material was found mainly in two sites: The city of Columbus, and 40 miles away, in the city of Washington Court House, — Johnson guessed that the person may live in one city, and work in another.

He said it was not “an imminent threat to public health;” this person probably has a form of “long COVID” that is not contagious.

But finding these lines, and identifying the people who spread them, could unlock new clues to how COVID mutates, as well as why some people become super-shedders of virus for a long time.

“Cryptic” lines of COVID show how the virus can mutate in new ways

Johnson told Insider that he has identified “cryptic” lines of COVID in wastewater across the country since 2021. These are strains “that don’t match anything we’ve seen before,” he said, showing that SARS- CoV-2 still has a few tricks up its sleeve and there’s a lot we don’t know.

Although these mysterious strains have only been identified in wastewater, they may be harbingers of variants to come. Long before Omicron appeared, researchers were collecting samples of COVID that they didn’t recognize — mysterious lines that we now understand to be similar to Omicron, according to a preprint paper (not yet peer-reviewed) published last month by Johnson and his team.

The first cryptic line of COVID that Johnson found, in 2021, is a classic example of his findings. There were so many viruses in the wastewater that he thought it was coming from a nursing home, or perhaps an animal reservoir like a dog shelter. But his team tracked it down in an office building in Wisconsin with about 30 employees, they wrote in preprint paper.

“I don’t believe a person can shed so much,” Johnson said.

All building workers were notified and tested. Eventually, the clan disappeared into the wastewater.

Trying to reach a mysterious person in Ohio

Now, the situation is replaying in Ohio.

Johnson and his Twitter followers have the suspects were narrowed down of about 1,600 people, the number of people who make the daily commute between Washington Court House and Columbus, according to US Census data.

While some people have expressed concerns that he may be invading someone’s medical privacy, Johnson said there is “no manhunt” going on; the only reason he is going public about the situation is in the hope that someone recognizes themselves, a friend, or family member as the person with the mysterious line, and asks for help.

“If someone has this infection, the chances that they’ll know what it is is non-existent,” he told Insider, because there is currently no test in the US available to test stool for COVID-19. “I’m trying to get the word out so that they might figure it out and put it together.”

He said the person is likely experiencing some type of gastrointestinal symptoms, and may not even know they have a lingering COVID infection. He hopes that if they know someone who is releasing the virus, the first thing they will do is see a doctor. “I want to know the details,” she said, but “mostly I want them to seek treatment.”