Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

The last two decades have seen the rise of viromics, the study of viral communities through the detection and characterization of virus genome sequences. Here we systematically review and summarize the scope and limitations of our current understanding of avian viromes, in both domesticated and wild-bird populations. We compare this viromic work to the broader literature on avian prokaryotic microbiomes, and highlight the growing importance of structured sampling and experimental design for testing explanatory hypotheses. We provide a number of recommendations for sample collection and preliminary data analysis to guide the development of avian viromics. Avian viromes have the potential to inform disease surveillance in poultry and improve our understanding of the risk of zoonotic viruses to human health.

Original publication

DOI

10.1099/jgv.0.001447

Type

Journal article

Journal

The Journal of general virology

Publication Date

10/06/2020

Keywords

virus, metagenomics, poultry, epidemiology, wild birds, ecology