Past, present, 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.