Identification of multiple novel viruses, including a parvovirus and a hepevirus, in feces of red foxes

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are the most widespread members of the order of Carnivora. Since they often live in (peri)urban areas, they are a potential reservoir of viruses that transmit fromwildlife to humans or domestic animals. Here we evaluated the fecal viral microbiome of 13 red foxes by random PCR in combination with next-generation sequencing. Various novel viruses, in-cluding a parvovirus, bocavirus, adeno-associated virus, hepevirus, astroviruses, and picobirnaviruses, were identified. Recent outbreaks of disease caused by infection with viruses ofanimal origin, like the human coronavirus HCoV-EMC (hu-man coronavirus—Erasmus Medical Center), and recurring in-fections with Ebola virus and Hendra virus have highlighted the importance of wild and domestic animals as a reservoir of viruses that are harmful to humans and other animals (1–3). Knowledge of viruses present in wildlife may be used to predict future trans-mission risks or eventually outbreaks of viral disease among hu-mans and domestic animals (4, 5). In addition, the investigation of viruses present in healthy wildlife can provide a baseline level of viruses that are present in healthy hosts, which might help in un-derstanding the role of certain pathogens in case of an outbreak o