I'm a Dublin scientist and I discovered a new Covid strain in the sewers of New York
Irish microbiologist Davida Smyth believes mass vaccination on a scale similar to that for polio is the only way we can continue to live with Covid-19.
When Irish microbiologist Davida Smyth signed up for Twitter, she may never have expected to be an ardent follower of a “Covid poops” account.
The global dashboard @COVIDPoops19 is a platform for “all things wastewater” and Sars-CoV-2, and has proved to be an invaluable communication tool for scientists such as her.
The handle has retweeted some of Smyth’s own research with colleagues on mysterious new strains of coronavirus in the New York public sewage system.
Smyth, who is an associate professor of molecular microbiology at the Texas A&M University-San Antonio, is joint author of a paper recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications on the results of that research.
As she explains, testing wastewater has always been an invaluable and economically efficient way of tracing and tracking harmful bacteria, such as E.coli.
About five months after Covid-19 hit the US, Smyth collaborated with a group of scientists at the City University of New York who were commissioned to test wastewater in conjunction with the city’s department of environmental protection.
The work with colleagues involved analysing DNA sequencing on the virus and watching out for differences that would indicate an increase in cases and the possible evolution of new variants.
This involved using tiny filters to separate out the virus from the water, and converting the coronavirus spike RNA to DNA, where it was then isolated and sequenced.
When the Omicron variant was reported in South Africa, the team began looking for it in the wastewater systems and detected it two weeks before it was confirmed in Covid patients in New York.
Last January they also began to observe something unusual — four variants or “cryptic lineages” that had not so far been detected by clinical health teams in New York.
So where were these new variants coming from? This was the million-dollar question, Smyth says.
Some of the scientists suggested it could be linked to animals with the virus, from dogs and cats to squirrels and rats.
Others, such as Smyth, suspect the variants may be linked to people whose infections are not being tracked by established detection systems.
“We were sampling from 14 wastewater plants and these new variants were coming from a handful of the plants,” she explains.
“We were aware that Omicron was detected first in South Africa, where there is a high incidence of HIV-Aids.
The research highlights the value of studying wastewater systems as a cheaper and faster way of keeping on top of the virus, she says.
“Instead of testing individuals for variants, a wastewater sample covers thousands,” she explains.
The information allows local authorities to act quickly when a new strain emerges, allowing for specific quarantining, Smyth explains.
“Ireland is doing well at this and it’s important because Covid-19 is not going away any time soon,” she says.
Ireland has over 1,100 public wastewater catchment areas. A surveillance programme involving 68 of these across every county began last May under the leadership of Professor Wim Meijer of University College Dublin’s School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science.
“A national wastewater surveillance system has been set up in the US, but not enough authorities have bought in as it requires funding,” Smyth says.
She is involved in a similar monitoring programme in San Antonio, which has a special relationship with water as it relies on a single aquifer, she explains.
The monitoring project will provide opportunities for her students to become involved and learn from invaluable practical research.
Smyth, who is originally from Dublin’s Stoneybatter — “before it got trendy” — studied at Trinity College Dublin but has strong Cork connections at a professional level.
She undertook her postgraduate work on mastitis co-supervised by Dr Billy Meaney at the Teagasc food research centre in Moorepark, Fermoy, Co Cork.
She is also deputy director of National Centre for Science and Civic Engagement, a non-profit organisation supporting teachers and students in all sectors of Stem (science, technology, engineering, and maths) education.
She is passionate about working with her students, who are drawn from diverse backgrounds.
“I am very conscious of the disparity in wealth in the US and the limited opportunities for those who don’t have resources to go to college,” she says.
She believes mass vaccination on a scale similar to that for polio is the only way we can continue to live with Covid-19.
“Vaccinating children serves a purpose in limiting the spread and, as long as we keep flying everywhere as a species, these are measures we will have to accept, “she says.
"As for mask wearing, it is a simple but very effective health measure and one that makes economic sense for businesses — even if it is only to limit the spread of winter flu it would make sense,” she says.
She is one of a number of scientists who have commented on the accuracy of the Stephen Soderbergh-directed north American thriller , released in 2011.
“It is like we are living through that movie,” she says.
However, if this suggests that humans are slow learners, Smyth is optimistic about the younger generation.
“You can see it in their approach to climate change,” she says. “They think differently and won’t tolerate what we have tolerated — as in a bunch of fuddy-duddy leaders at the top of some governments who think they can cherrypick the science.”
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