Preserve a Voucher Specimen! The Critical Need for Integrating Natural History Collections in Infectious Disease Studies

Abstract

Despite being nearly 10 months into the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease

2019) pandemic, the definitive animal host for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syn- drome coronavirus 2), the causal agent of COVID-19, remains unknown. Unfortunately,

similar problems exist for other betacoronaviruses, and no vouchered specimens exist to

corroborate host species identification for most of these pathogens. This most basic in- formation is critical to the full understanding and mitigation of emerging zoonotic dis- eases. To overcome this hurdle, we recommend that host-pathogen researchers adopt

vouchering practices and collaborate with natural history collections to permanently

archive microbiological samples and host specimens. Vouchered specimens and associ- ated samples provide both repeatability and extension to host-pathogen studies, and

using them mobilizes a large workforce (i.e., biodiversity scientists) to assist in pandemic

preparedness. We review several well-known examples that successfully integrate host- pathogen research with natural history collections (e.g., yellow fever, hantaviruses,

helminths). However, vouchering remains an underutilized practice in such studies. Using an online survey, we assessed vouchering practices used by microbiologists (e.g., bacteriologists, parasitologists, virologists) in host-pathogen research. A much greater number of respondents permanently archive microbiological samples than archive host specimens, and less than half of respondents voucher host specimens

from which microbiological samples were lethally collected. To foster collabora- tions between microbiologists and natural history collections, we provide recom- mendations for integrating vouchering techniques and archiving of microbiological

samples into host-pathogen studies. This integrative approach exemplifies the pre- mise underlying One Health initiatives, providing critical infrastructure for

Citation Thompson CW, Phelps KL, Allard MW, Cook JA, Dunnum JL, Ferguson AW, Gelang M, Khan FAA, Paul DL, Reeder DM, Simmons NB, Vanhove MPM, Webala PW, Weksler M, Kilpatrick CW. 2021. Preserve a voucher specimen! The critical need for integrating natural history collections in infectious disease studies. mBio 12:e02698-20. https://doi.org/10 .1128/mBio.02698-20. Editor Vinayaka R. Prasad, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Copyright © 2021 Thompson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Address correspondence to Cody W. Thompson, cwthomp@umich.edu, or Kendra L. Phelps, phelps@ecohealthalliance.org. Published 12 January 2021

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addressing related issues ranging from public health to global climate change and the biodiversity crisis.