Past, present and future: emerging bird borne viruses in a changing climate

In this proposal we address wild birds as source of viruses for emerging diseases.

Through meta-transcriptomic sequence approaches we will study changes in avian virome communities over the last 20-years by targeted sequencing of an unique archival biobank with samples from waterfowl collected from 2002 and onwards in Sweden (consisting of > 50,000 samples), and selected material from the biobank at the National Veterinary Institute (SVA).

This will be complemented by the characterisation of an European-wide contemporary collection from a network of sampling nodes, and targeted collections of selected passerines on migration in Sweden.

These collections will allow us to present a comprehensive picture of the virome of key bird species and their potential to serve as reservoirs of virus pathogens of significance for human and animal health.

Importantly, the spatial-temporal components will allow linking virome diversity and specific constituents of the pathogen community (such as HPAI) to ecological and environmental factors, which will lay the basis for a synthesis on how the virome and the risk for spillover infections may change in a changing climate.

We will also study spillover infections at the avian-mammal interface through surveillance of mammals in national wildlife disease monitoring.