New findings on animal viruses with potential to infect humans

Scientists investigating animal viruses with potential to infect humans have identified a critical protein that could enable spillover of a family of organisms called arteriviruses.

In a new study, researchers identified a protein in mammals that welcomes arteriviruses into host cells to start an infection. The team also found that an existing monoclonal antibody that binds to this protein protects cells from viral infection.

Arteriviruses circulate broadly in many types of mammals around the world that serve as natural hosts such as nonhuman primates, pigs and horses but so far have not been detected in humans.

The researchers' aim is to better understand mechanisms of arterivirus infection to get a handle on how high the infection risk is for humans and what preparation may be needed should a spillover occur in the future.

It's important to consider that since we have no known arteriviruses infecting people that we're essentially immunologically naïve, so we can't rely on preexisting immunity to help us. The study was published recently in Nature Communications.