review · mBio
Identifying definitive animal hosts for pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 and other betacoronaviruses remains difficult because vouchered specimens confirming host species rarely exist. Host-pathogen research needs to integrate with natural history collections to permanently archive both microbiological samples and host specimens. While historical examples such as yellow fever, hantaviruses, and helminths show the value of integrating host-pathogen research with natural history archives, vouchering remains widely underused. A survey of microbiologists, including bacteriologists, parasitologists, and virologists, reveals that while many permanently archive microbiological samples, fewer than half preserve host specimens when lethal collection occurs. Archiving both pathogen and host material ensures research repeatability and allows future verification. Fostering structured collaborations between microbiologists and natural history collections supports One Health initiatives, strengthening public health preparedness, biodiversity monitoring, and broader responses to emerging zoonotic diseases and climate change.
Accurate identification of animal hosts is vital for controlling and preventing zoonotic diseases that spill over into human populations. Without physical host specimens preserved in natural history collections, researchers cannot verify or re-evaluate host identities as taxonomic classifications evolve. Archiving specimens creates verifiable records that protect public health and support global disease monitoring.
The abstract outlines methodological and infrastructural practices for researchers and biorepositories rather than a commercial product or service. However, the recommendations could inform data management protocols, biobanking operations, and contract research workflows for diagnostics or surveillance organisations involved in zoonotic disease monitoring. This represents an early-stage methodological standard rather than a direct commercial technology.
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Despite being nearly 10 months into the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, the definitive animal host for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), the causal agent of COVID-19, remains unknown. Unfortunately, similar problems exist for other betacoronaviruses, and no vouchered specimens exist to corroborate host species identification for most of these pathogens. This most basic information is critical to the full understanding and mitigation of emerging zoonotic diseases. To overcome this hurdle, we recommend that host-pathogen researchers adopt vouchering practices and collaborate with natural history collections to permanently archive microbiological samples and host specimens. Vouchered specimens and associated samples provide both repeatability and extension to host-pathogen studies, and using them mobilizes a large workforce (i.e., biodiversity scientists) to assist in pandemic preparedness. We review several well-known examples that successfully integrate host-pathogen research with natural history collections (e.g., yellow fever, hantaviruses, helminths). However, vouchering remains an underutilized practice in such studies. Using an online survey, we assessed vouchering practices used by microbiologists (e.g., bacteriologists, parasitologists, virologists) in host-pathogen research. A much greater number of respondents permanently archive microbiological samples than archive host specimens, and less than half of respondents voucher host specimens from which microbiological samples were lethally collected. To foster collaborations between microbiologists and natural history collections, we provide recommendations for integrating vouchering techniques and archiving of microbiological samples into host-pathogen studies. This integrative approach exemplifies the premise underlying One Health initiatives, providing critical infrastructure for addressing related issues ranging from public health to global climate change and the biodiversity crisis.
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DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02698-20
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