Targeting surveillance for zoonotic virus discovery

Area of Science:

• Veterinary epidemiology
• Zoonotic disease research
• Wildlife health surveillance

Background:

• Identifying zoonotic pathogens is crucial for public health.
• Current surveillance strategies often focus on diseased animals.
• The optimal approach for discovering novel zoonotic viruses remains debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of different animal surveillance strategies for identifying potentially zoonotic viruses.
• To determine if targeting diseased animals is superior to monitoring apparently healthy animals for zoonotic virus discovery.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of a comprehensive database of mammal-virus associations.
• Comparative assessment of surveillance strategies based on animal health status (diseased vs. healthy).
• Statistical evaluation of pathogen discovery potential across different strategies and host groups.

Main Results:

• A mixed strategy of monitoring both healthy and diseased animals is generally optimal for overall zoonotic pathogen identification.
• Surveillance specifically targeting apparently healthy bats and rodents demonstrated the highest potential for discovering novel zoonotic viruses within these groups.
• The effectiveness of targeting diseased animals varied depending on the host species.

Conclusions:

• Surveillance strategies should be tailored to specific host groups to maximize zoonotic virus discovery.
• Focusing on apparently healthy bats and rodents represents a promising avenue for proactive identification of potential zoonotic threats.
• Rethinking traditional surveillance methods may be necessary to enhance the detection of emerging infectious diseases with zoonotic potential.