About ZOVER

The database of zoonotic and vector-borne viruses (ZOVER) intends to integrate virological, ecological and epidemiological data to enhance our knowledge of animals-associated viruses with significant impact on human and animal health. So far, ZOVER is being focused on investigating the mammal virome diversity in the key animals of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases(EIDs), such as bats, rodents, mosquitoes, and ticks. Virome surveys on those animals provides abundant data to help understand the existing viral population and their ecology in ecosystems. Herein, we present a comprehensive and integrated data resource, which has collected not only up-to-date knowledge about mosquito- and tick-associated viruses but also has incorporated the data of bat- and rodent-associated viruses from two sister databases DBatVir and DRodVir. (DBatVir and DRodVir were already constructed and published in the year 2014 and 2017, respectively, and are both keeping up to date.) Of note was that all information were manually collected from published literatures and records in GenBank database. Moreover, due to the shared ecological niches that bats and rodents fill with many hematophagous insects, those animals with each other may play a role in the natural circulation of several viruses, such as Nairoviridae, Flaviviridae, Reoviridae, Togaviridae, etc. Therefore, we designed a series of comparative analyses for users to explore the pattern of viral communities among the four significant animals of zoonotic EIDs.

[Term of use ( )]

Access and use of ZOVER are provided "AS IS" and without warranties of any kind either expressed or implied. By using this website, you agree that ZOVER will not be liable for any losses or damages arising from your use of or reliance on the ZOVER data, or other websites or information to which this website may be linked.

The contents of ZOVER, including text, sequence and other material contained on the ZOVER website ("ZOVER data") are for research and educational purposes only. The ZOVER data is freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license version 4.0 for personal and public non-commercial, research or academic use by individuals at academic, government or non-profit institutions. Users intending to use ZOVER data for commercial purposes should contact us via the official email.

[About bats]

Bats are one of the most successful mammalian orders and are likely the most diverse one as well. The more than 1,200 bat species provide an unparalleled exhibition of variations on the mammalian theme and a broad lesson in biology. Moreover, in recent years, bats have gained significant notoriety for being implicated in numerous emerging infectious disease events, including the ongoing outbreak COVID-19, SARS outbreak ten years ago and the MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) endemic in the Middle East. Actually, bats are suggested to be important reservoir hosts of many zoonotic viruses that can cross species barriers to infect humans and other domestic or wild mammals, including lyssaviruses, henipaviruses, ebolaviruses, marburgviruses, and coronaviruses. Their ability to fly and social life history enable efficient pathogen maintenance, evolution, and spread. Viruses of bats may be transmitted to humans directly through bites or via exposure to saliva, fecal aerosols, or infected tissues as well as indirectly through contact with infected intermediate hosts, such as swine. Therefore, the study of bat-associated viruses and their emerging potential has been considered increasingly important. It is essential to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the high biodiversity of bats, broad geographical distribution, and the genetic diversity of bat-associated viruses to benefit current and future emerging zoonotic diseases prevention, source-tracking and prediction.

[About rodents]

Rodents are the most abundant and diversified order of living mammals in the world, representing about 43% of the total number of mammalian species. There are ca 2200 living rodent species, including mice, rats, voles, squirrels, prairie dogs, beavers, chipmunks, and guinea pigs. Rodents are known reservoirs of a range of human pathogens, including hantaviruses, Bartonella spp., and Leptospira interrogans, and also important reservoirs for the agents of a growing number of emerging infectious diseases with significant impacts on public health. Rodents exist in large populations in urban environments, where they live and feed in closer proximity to people. The frequent interactions of rodents with humans make them a common source of zoonotic infections. Rodents can spread pathogens to humans, e.g., by biting them or because human consume food products or water that is contaminated with rodent feces or urine, or we breathe in germs that are present in rodent excrements (e.g., hantaviruses). Rodent-borne pathogens can also be spread indirectly to humans. The rodents can serve as amplifying hosts of the pathogens and can bring them into direct contact with humans by means of ectoparasitic arthropod vectors (ticks, mites, fleas). Moreover, Global climate change and changing human settlement patterns (especially in developing countries) could lead to increased problems with rodent-borne pathogens. Viral surveys in rodents have been identified a wide diversity of novel viruses from families and genera that contain important human pathogens, including new genotypes and species of cardioviruses, hepaciviruses, kobuviruses, parechoviruses, and sapoviruses.

[About mosquitoes & ticks]

Diseases transmitted by arthropod vectors, such as mosquitoes and ticks, are major contributors to the global burden of infectious disease, with nearly half the world's population at risk of infection with a vector-borne pathogen at any moment. Worldwide, an estimated 3500 species of mosquitoes (family Culicidae) are known to exist, of which some are efficient vectors capable of transmitting various zoonotic viruses. Mosquito-borne viruses are a key group of concern as they include both very high burden and important emerging diseases, including dengue (about 96 million cases per year), chikungunya (about 693 000 cases per year), and Zika virus disease (about 500 000 cases per year). Thus, a better understanding of biodiversity, geographical distribution and vector specificity of mosquitoes-associated viruses can assist in pandemic surveillance and prescience.

Browse mosquito-associated viruses

Following this, over 900 species of ticks are second only to mosquitoes as vectors of multiple disease-causing agents to both humans and domestic animals. Currently, at least 160 tick-borne viruses are known. All tick-borne viruses, with only one exception (African swine fever virus, family Asfarviridae), are RNA viruses, including well-known Tick-borne encephalitis virus, Powassan virus, West Nile virus, etc. These viruses are increasing in prevalence on a global scale as a consequence of anthropogenic changes bringing humans into greater contact with ticks as well as burgeoning tick populations. New tick-borne viruses are being identified regularly, increasing the risk of disease from tick bites. Virus-tick-vertebrate host relationships are highly specific, and < 10% of all tick species (Argasidae and Ixodidae) are known to play a role as vectors of arboviruses. Understanding the basic biology, ecology, clinical features, and diagnosis of these agents is critical to public health and is addressed for selected viruses that cause disease in humans.

Acknowledgements

This project was supported by the National Scientific Data Sharing Platform for Population and Health.

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