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

Thompson CW 1 , Phelps KL 2 , Allard MW 3 , Cook JA 4 , Dunnum JL 4 , Ferguson AW 5 Show all authors , Gelang M 6 , Khan FAA 7 , Paul DL 8 , Reeder DM 9 , Simmons NB 10 , Vanhove MPM 11 , Webala PW 12 , Weksler M 13 , Kilpatrick CW 14

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA cwthomp@umich.edu phelps@ecohealthalliance.org
  • 2 EcoHealth Alliance, New York, New York, USA cwthomp@umich.edu phelps@ecohealthalliance.org
  • 3 Center of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U. S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland, USA
  • 4 Museum of Southwestern Biology, Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
  • 5 Gantz Family Collections Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • 6 Gothenburg Natural History Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 7 Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 8 Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
  • 9 Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA
  • 10 Department of Mammalogy, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
  • 11 Hasselt University, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Diepenbeek, Belgium
  • 12 Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya
  • 13 Departamento de Vertebrados, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • 14 University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA
mBio, 2021 Jan 12;12(1).
PMID: 33436435 DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02698-20

Abstract

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.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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