OmniVira: a knowledgebase of source-linked evidence on viral spillover and cross-species transmission
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Zoonotic viral emergence poses persistent challenges to global health, yet evidence relevant to spillover and cross-species transmission is dispersed across surveillance, epidemiological, experimental, mechanistic, and genomic studies. Here, we present OmniVira (https://omnivira.org/), a curated knowledgebase that transforms literature-derived findings into structured, traceable, and reusable OmniVira Evidence (OVE) records. OmniVira implements an auditable article-evidence framework linking individual findings and supporting text to normalized virus, host, and geographic entities, and relevant biological context. A domain-specific ontology organizes 14 evidence types into five categories: Zoonotic Surveillance, Transmission Evidence, Experimental Infection, Functional Mechanism, and Genomic Evolution. The platform integrates ontology-guided curation, large language model-assisted literature screening and candidate extraction, automated consistency checks, and curator review of flagged or ambiguous records, enabling daily updates. As of 4 August 2026, OmniVira contained 8072 publicly retrievable OVE records derived from 2623 source articles, spanning 60 ICTV virus families, 55 host orders, and 121 countries. Its responsive interface supports evidence-centred retrieval, source-text verification, and exploration of linked virus-host-literature relationships across desktop and mobile browsers. OmniVira provides a transparent, context-preserving resource for systematic comparison and synthesis of evidence related to zoonotic viral emergence and cross-species transmission.
Source: Nucleic Acids Research
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkag991
Authors: Peng Zhao, Yelin Han, Qi Jin, Fan Yang, Zhiqiang Wu
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,992
OpenAlex ID: W7223877857