Investigation of the Risk of Zoonotic Spillovers

Viruses are our planet's most abundant biological entities; our understanding of their diversity and distribution is extremely poor. Relationships between agriculture practices, increasing demands for food, climate change and infectious diseases remains poorly understood. The need to meet expected population expansions will require substantial increases in crop and animal production. Changes in land use, farming practices, animal density and efforts to meet food insecurity will provide opportunities for viral spillovers and spillbacks to occur. This project will collect samples that will allow the investigation of potential zoonotic spillovers.