Preserve a Voucher Specimen! The Critical Need for Integrating Natural History Collections in Infectious Disease Studies

• Published in: mBio Vol. 12; no. 1
• Main Authors: Thompson, Cody W., Phelps, Kendra L., Allard, Marc W., Cook, Joseph A., Dunnum, Jonathan L., Ferguson, Adam W., Gelang, Magnus, Khan, Faisal Ali Anwarali, Paul, Deborah L., Reeder, DeeAnn M., Simmons, Nancy B., Vanhove, Maarten P. M., Webala, Paul W., Weksler, Marcelo, Kilpatrick, C. William
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Microbiology 12.01.2021
• Subjects: Animals; Biodiversity; Biomedical Research - standards; Biomedical Research - trends; Communicable Diseases - microbiology; Communicable Diseases - parasitology; Communicable Diseases - pathology; Communicable Diseases - virology; COVID-19 - pathology; COVID-19 - virology; Host-Microbe Biology; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Minireview; Museums - standards; Natural History - standards; SARS-CoV-2 - classification; SARS-CoV-2 - physiology; Specimen Handling; Zoonoses - microbiology; Zoonoses - parasitology; Zoonoses - pathology; Zoonoses - virology; zoonoses; coronaviruses; biorepositories; museums; holistic specimen; extended specimen

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...