With the increased reliance on livestock and animal products in today’s world, humans and animals are in closer proximity than ever. This closeness however, also makes this connection susceptible to be corrupted by the spread of viral disease. This spread from animals to humans is called zoonotic infection and is how many of the most serious viral outbreaks began such as influenza and coronavirus. Livestock are particularly vulnerable to the spreading of these viruses as they are often clustered close together, promoting viral transmission that can eventually make its way to human hosts. Resources for monitoring viruses within livestock populations have, however, been a challenge as traditional monitoring has had to be done directly on the animals which can pose risks to both the animals and the researchers. Thus, scientists are looking to develop new ways to surveil virus transmission in non-invasive ways.
One way researchers have looked to solve this problem is that rather than testing the animals themselves, they could look at samples of aggregated materials from many animals such as manure, air samples, and wastewater to track viruses within animal populations. Methods of monitoring pathogens from aggregated samples have already proven effective in some cases and researchers wanted to further test this theory to see if aggregate samples could appropriately serve as reliable indicators of virus transmission in populations of cattle and pigs.
The researchers began by setting up sample collection sites at cow and pig farms in Barcelona as well as at several slaughterhouses. They collected 105 samples across eleven months between slurry, manure, wastewater, and air samples from the locations. The samples were separated into different pools based on whether they were from pigs or cows and by the season they were collected. Viruses were then extracted from each sample by slowly removing organic and biological particles from the sample until viral DNA could be isolated.
In the swine samples, the researchers found evidence of 56 total viral species and saw that the viruses seemed to have seasonal variation with each virus seeming to have a preferred peak season of high abundance that matches with known viral seasonality indicating a success of using aggregated samples to test for viruses.
The researchers then compared their findings with the samples taken at cattle farms and from cattle wastewater samples. They found that since cows are housed at a lower density than pigs, there was a sharp decrease in pathogen detection since viruses could not be passed as easily when the animals are farther apart. The researchers did however notice the same pattern of seasonality for the 63 viral species that appeared in their screens, many of which appeared in a specific sample type alone showing the best ways to monitor those specific viruses.
Based on their results, the researchers conclude that an aggregated sample approach is an effective way to monitor animal viruses in livestock populations. Based on their results and their alignment with previous direct studies on viral presence in livestock populations, the authors believe that aggregate sampling could prove to be of significant use, especially in the prevention of zoonotic infections that could infect humans. While this method can make it difficult to determine which individuals in a population are infected due to the collection methods, the overall results from this study indicate that there are some new approaches coming to virus monitoring and the prevention of virus spread.
In order to be even more effective with these new techniques for virus monitoring, we could complement them through making advances in viral detection technology that might allow us to track viruses and their mutations so we can be even more prepared to face viral threats as they develop before they infect the larger population. We could also look into applying this technique to non-livestock animals which would help to prevent the spread of infection globally. This paper demonstrates a major shift coming for viral monitoring and detection which could ultimately lead help us to be safer and more prepared for emerging viral infections
Literature Cited:
Rusiñol, M., Martínez-Puchol, S., Ribeiro, D., Verdaguer, J., Torrejón-Llorens, O., Itarte, M., Estarlich-Landajo, I., Mejías-Molina, C., Juliachs-Torroella, G., Girones, R., Ramírez, G. A., Baliellas, J., Bofill-Mas, S., & Fernández-Cassi, X. (2026). Livestock aggregated samples for monitoring viruses infecting animals and potentially zoonotic viral pathogens. One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 22, 101340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2026.101340
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