mBio
(Feb 2021)
Preserve a Voucher Specimen! The Critical Need for Integrating Natural History Collections in Infectious Disease Studies
Cody W. Thompson,
Kendra L. Phelps,
Marc W. Allard,
Joseph A. Cook,
Jonathan L. Dunnum,
Adam W. Ferguson,
Magnus Gelang,
Faisal Ali Anwarali Khan,
Deborah L. Paul,
DeeAnn M. Reeder,
Nancy B. Simmons,
Maarten P. M. Vanhove,
Paul W. Webala,
Marcelo Weksler,
C. William Kilpatrick
Affiliations
Cody W. Thompson
ORCiD Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Kendra L. Phelps
ORCiD EcoHealth Alliance, New York, New York, USA
Marc W. Allard
Center of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U. S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland, USA
Joseph A. Cook
Museum of Southwestern Biology, Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Jonathan L. Dunnum
Museum of Southwestern Biology, Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Adam W. Ferguson
Gantz Family Collections Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Magnus Gelang
Gothenburg Natural History Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
Faisal Ali Anwarali Khan
Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Sarawak, Malaysia
Deborah L. Paul
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
DeeAnn M. Reeder
Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Nancy B. Simmons
Department of Mammalogy, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
Maarten P. M. Vanhove
Hasselt University, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Diepenbeek, Belgium
Paul W. Webala
Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya
Marcelo Weksler
ORCiD Departamento de Vertebrados, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
C. William Kilpatrick
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02698-20
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12,
no. 1
Abstract
Read online
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.
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