Host Innate Immune Responses to Infection by Avian- and Bat-Borne Viruses

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated many urgent questions on the origin, trajectory, and host preference of its causative betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2, as well as renewed focus on other potentially zoonotic viruses. Several species of birds and wild bats can serve as reservoirs and/or mechanical vectors for many infectious viruses including influenza-A, SARS-CoV, MERS, and Ebola. Although substantial progress has been made, there are still major gaps in understanding the emergence, transmission, and adaptation of zoonotic avian- and bat-borne viruses. A major challenge is the dearth of suitable infection and immunity models. Extrapolating data from infection studies in human cell lines or rodents is limiting, as evolutionarily optimized immune factors function differently in non-hosts.

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© 2021 Giotis, Matthews and Smith. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.651289

Repository URI

https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/host-innate-immune-responses-to-infection-by-avian-and-batborne-viruses(8d5a8203-b87e-475b-b668-572963678436).html