A group of scientists from Australia and China have discovered that invertebrates are carriers of 1,445 viruses, some of which have not yet been studied. The research is published in the journal Nature.
According to one of the authors of the work, Professor Edward Holmes, this discovery completely changes the idea of scientists about virology. They now speculate that insects, spiders, and worms have been carriers for billions of years, not millions as previously thought.
“It's amazing that insects carry so many viruses in them. Before that, no one even thought to study them, because no cases of infection were recorded, Holmes said.
According to him, the study used completely new technologies that are also used to identify the causes of human disease. In its course, it turned out that invertebrates were carriers of long-known viruses like influenza.
At the same time, experts note that the study should not make people fear invertebrates. According to them, it is quite difficult for a person to get infected from an insect.