The future of viral infections

Abstract

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic there is increasing scientific interest in animal viruses and their future cross-species transmission potential. Although viruses are the most diverse and abundant of living organisms, we know less about their diversity, evolution, and cross-species transmission potential than other living organisms. Few animal species, mainly those located in the phylum Chordata have been surveyed for viruses, while surveillance among invertebrate species has mainly focussed on common disease vectors such as ticks and mosquitoes, both located in the phylum arthropoda, one of 21 invertebrate phyla. The recent advent of metagenomic next-generation sequencing has however begun to advance the study of the animal virome, revealing novel biodiversity insights. For example, while bats and rodents have been shown to harbour a wide range of coronaviruses, recent molecular explorations have documented coronaviruses in other vertebrates such as amphibians and fish.