Down on the farm: Farm coronaviruses are a large reservoir for new spillover events into humans

Until COVID‐19, coronaviruses were largely overlooked by virologists. Yet, their abundance in mammalian species could cause new spillover events into humans. Subject Categories: Ecology, Microbiology, Virology & Host Pathogen Interaction

By now, coronaviruses have become notorious. Yet, before the SARS coronaviruses started wreaking havoc with human society, coronaviruses were largely overlooked, even amongst virologists. “When I told another virologist at a meeting what I was working on”, recalled Peter Rottier at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, who began his coronavirus research in 1979, “that person said they''d never heard of coronaviruses”. With plenty of other viruses such as influenza and HIV demanding attention, funders saw no reason to support research on the endemic human coronaviruses in the 1980s and 1990s since they caused mostly common cold.

With plenty of other viruses such as influenza and HIV demanding attention, funders saw no reason to support research on the endemic human coronaviruses in the 1980s and 90s…

Clinicians and virologists began taking much notice around 2003 and 2004 after the SARS coronavirus inflicted about 800 deaths before the outbreak receded, but the potential of this virus family to spillover into new species and mutate to more virulent strains had long been recognized by veterinarians, because coronaviruses inflict significant diseases in poultry, cattle and especially pigs. Virologists now are taking a closer look at some of these diseases to better understand coronaviruses and why they may be relevant for potential future pandemics.