Solid Evidence
@solidevidence.bsky.social
Molecular virologist, sewage sage and wastewater wizard.
Professor at University of Missouri, School of Medicine
Professor at University of Missouri, School of Medicine
There have been some studies, but in general those cases are pretty rare, and if you are sequencing, they are obvious.
January 28, 2026 at 7:55 PM
There have been some studies, but in general those cases are pretty rare, and if you are sequencing, they are obvious.
I'm not sure. It's possible they pretreat the penguin waste. I detect other things from their zoo, like black bear.
We detect a lot of Capuchin monkey from Boston too, and I was surprised to learn that was not coming from the zoo.
We detect a lot of Capuchin monkey from Boston too, and I was surprised to learn that was not coming from the zoo.
January 27, 2026 at 4:57 PM
I'm not sure. It's possible they pretreat the penguin waste. I detect other things from their zoo, like black bear.
We detect a lot of Capuchin monkey from Boston too, and I was surprised to learn that was not coming from the zoo.
We detect a lot of Capuchin monkey from Boston too, and I was surprised to learn that was not coming from the zoo.
We didn’t detect penguins in any of the 8 places that didn’t have penguins in their zoo. The only place that has penguins that we didn’t detect them is Boston.
I’m starting to think this technique works.
7/7
I’m starting to think this technique works.
7/7
January 26, 2026 at 8:20 PM
We didn’t detect penguins in any of the 8 places that didn’t have penguins in their zoo. The only place that has penguins that we didn’t detect them is Boston.
I’m starting to think this technique works.
7/7
I’m starting to think this technique works.
7/7
Check, check, check.
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January 26, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Check, check, check.
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Finally, we detected 3 penguins from KC. The same banded signal, a great penguin (King or Emperor), and a Gentoo.
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January 26, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Finally, we detected 3 penguins from KC. The same banded signal, a great penguin (King or Emperor), and a Gentoo.
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It checked out though. This time it was presumably the Humboldt penguin from the Brookfield zoo.
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January 26, 2026 at 8:20 PM
It checked out though. This time it was presumably the Humboldt penguin from the Brookfield zoo.
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Second detection was from Chicago. Same sequence as in Boise.
I’m amazed this worked, Chicago has the largest treatment plant in the US, 700 million gallons/day.
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I’m amazed this worked, Chicago has the largest treatment plant in the US, 700 million gallons/day.
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January 26, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Second detection was from Chicago. Same sequence as in Boise.
I’m amazed this worked, Chicago has the largest treatment plant in the US, 700 million gallons/day.
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I’m amazed this worked, Chicago has the largest treatment plant in the US, 700 million gallons/day.
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Based on the Boise zoo website, it was probably a Magellanic.
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January 26, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Based on the Boise zoo website, it was probably a Magellanic.
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ends of the sequence
January 24, 2026 at 11:35 PM
ends of the sequence
It really makes you wonder. How many more people like this are out there?
16/16
16/16
January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
It really makes you wonder. How many more people like this are out there?
16/16
16/16
Could it be that 2 people from the same city got infected almost 5 years ago?
One started shedding in wastewater 2.5 years after infection and the other started shedding 4.5 years after infection?
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One started shedding in wastewater 2.5 years after infection and the other started shedding 4.5 years after infection?
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Could it be that 2 people from the same city got infected almost 5 years ago?
One started shedding in wastewater 2.5 years after infection and the other started shedding 4.5 years after infection?
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One started shedding in wastewater 2.5 years after infection and the other started shedding 4.5 years after infection?
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Here was the B.1 defining region from the lineage 2 years ago. None of the same changes.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Here was the B.1 defining region from the lineage 2 years ago. None of the same changes.
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And the previous lineage also had 498Y. However, none of the other changes matched up.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
And the previous lineage also had 498Y. However, none of the other changes matched up.
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Here’s the weird part. The sample was from NC on 8/28/25 (last summer) from a population with 182,501(Charlotte).
This sounded familiar, so I checked our dashboard.
There WAS a cryptic from Charlotte we detected 2 years ago. It was also B.1.
12/
This sounded familiar, so I checked our dashboard.
There WAS a cryptic from Charlotte we detected 2 years ago. It was also B.1.
12/
January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Here’s the weird part. The sample was from NC on 8/28/25 (last summer) from a population with 182,501(Charlotte).
This sounded familiar, so I checked our dashboard.
There WAS a cryptic from Charlotte we detected 2 years ago. It was also B.1.
12/
This sounded familiar, so I checked our dashboard.
There WAS a cryptic from Charlotte we detected 2 years ago. It was also B.1.
12/
Further, the sequences lacking the B.1.1 changes contained the additional changes 28916T, 28906G, and partial 28892A. This tells me that it wasn’t just contamination with some older virus, this sequence is unique.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Further, the sequences lacking the B.1.1 changes contained the additional changes 28916T, 28906G, and partial 28892A. This tells me that it wasn’t just contamination with some older virus, this sequence is unique.
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The defining changes of B.1.1 were 28881A, 28882A, 28883C (which introduces a TRS).
The cryptic not only lacked those changes, but also lacked 28881T, so it wasn’t Delta.
It was circulating in early 2021 at the latest.
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The cryptic not only lacked those changes, but also lacked 28881T, so it wasn’t Delta.
It was circulating in early 2021 at the latest.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
The defining changes of B.1.1 were 28881A, 28882A, 28883C (which introduces a TRS).
The cryptic not only lacked those changes, but also lacked 28881T, so it wasn’t Delta.
It was circulating in early 2021 at the latest.
10/
The cryptic not only lacked those changes, but also lacked 28881T, so it wasn’t Delta.
It was circulating in early 2021 at the latest.
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Next step was to ‘carbon date’ the lineage. We know it was pre-Omicron, but how old?
It was pre-B.1.1
Here’s the smoking gun.
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It was pre-B.1.1
Here’s the smoking gun.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Next step was to ‘carbon date’ the lineage. We know it was pre-Omicron, but how old?
It was pre-B.1.1
Here’s the smoking gun.
9/
It was pre-B.1.1
Here’s the smoking gun.
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The final screen looked for sequences cryptic specific RBD changes. [we’ve had to update this screen 8 times because circulating lineages keep ‘finding’ the cryptic mutations]
Only got a piece of the RBD, but it was fairly juicy. 498Y is almost exclusively in cryptics.
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Only got a piece of the RBD, but it was fairly juicy. 498Y is almost exclusively in cryptics.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
The final screen looked for sequences cryptic specific RBD changes. [we’ve had to update this screen 8 times because circulating lineages keep ‘finding’ the cryptic mutations]
Only got a piece of the RBD, but it was fairly juicy. 498Y is almost exclusively in cryptics.
8/
Only got a piece of the RBD, but it was fairly juicy. 498Y is almost exclusively in cryptics.
8/
Again, that sequence has been gone for 3 years.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Again, that sequence has been gone for 3 years.
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The second was looking for sequences missing the deletion at the start of N.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
The second was looking for sequences missing the deletion at the start of N.
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This sequence has been absent from all circulating lineages since early 2022.
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January 24, 2026 at 7:48 PM
This sequence has been absent from all circulating lineages since early 2022.
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