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Environmental virotoxicology: how pollutant exposure modulates viral infections – a systematic review of wildlife-associated evidence
Original title: Environmental virotoxicology: how pollutant exposure modulates viral infections – a systematic review of wildlife-associated evidence
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Pollution in our environment—from plastics to chemicals to heavy metals—can weaken animals' immune systems and make them more vulnerable to viral infections, which could then spread to humans. This review of over 160 studies shows that contaminants are actively making disease outbreaks worse in wildlife, and in some cases may even be creating viruses that resist our medicines. Understanding these pollution-disease connections matters because animals are often where new diseases start before jumping to people, so controlling pollution could help prevent the next pandemic.
Within a One Health framework, pollution is no longer a passive backdrop to host–virus interactions but actively reshapes disease dynamics across humans, animals, and ecosystems. The aim of this review was to synthesize evidence across free-ranging wildlife and wild-derived models to define environmental virotoxicology, which is the study of how environmental contaminants alter susceptibility, replication, shedding, transmission, pathogenesis, persistence, and viral evolution in hosts. A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (26 Oct 2025), augmented by citation-chasing, yielded 162 eligible studies spanning more than 100 taxa (marine mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, invertebrates) and major DNA/RNA virus families. Across 9 contaminant classes (>180 chemicals), including legacy persistent organic pollutants, petroleum hydrocarbons/polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and micro/nanoplastics, recurrent patterns emerge: (1) suppression or dysregulation of antiviral immunity, (2) reactivation of latent infections, and (3) increases in viral load, severity, and epizootic magnitude. Effects are context-dependent, with documented null or mixed outcomes shaped by dose, timing, life stage, immune compartment, and host ecology. Two broad implications follow: 1) contaminants might amplify wildlife epizootics and reshape reservoir competence, and in at least one well-supported case (2) low, environmentally realistic exposure to antiviral residues in wild waterfowl may impose selective pressure on viral populations and select for antiviral resistance. It is recommended to integrate contaminant surveillance with viral infectious disease monitoring and prioritizing multifactor, mechanistic designs that couple exposure history, immune phenotype, and virological endpoints.
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Environmental virotoxicology: how pollutant exposure modulates viral infections – a systematic review of wildlife-associated evidence
AI summary Read the abstract
Pollution in the environment—from plastics to chemicals—can weaken animals' immune systems and make viral infections worse, which means diseases could spread more easily through wildlife populations and potentially jump to humans. This review of over 160 studies shows that pollutants can wake up dormant viruses in animals' bodies and help viruses reproduce faster, creating a dangerous combination of weak defenses and stronger infections. Understanding how pollution affects disease in animals matters for people too, since many animal viruses can infect humans, making it important to monitor both pollution and disease outbreaks together.
Environmental virotoxicology: how pollutant exposure modulates viral infections – a systematic review of wildlife-associated evidence
AI summary Read the abstract
This review of over 160 studies shows that pollution—including plastics, metals, and chemicals—weakens animals' immune systems and makes them more susceptible to viral infections, which could create bigger disease outbreaks in wildlife. Since viruses can spread from animals to humans and pollutants are everywhere in our environment, understanding how pollution worsens viral infections in nature helps us predict and prevent the next pandemic. Scientists are calling for doctors and environmental experts to work together to track both pollution and disease spread in wildlife as an early warning system for human health threats.
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