Recent breakthroughs in antiviral drug discovery and zoonotic disease surveillance are reshaping our approach to managing viral pathogens. Innovative strategies targeting the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) and proactive monitoring of bat coronaviruses are at the forefront of these developments.
African swine fever virus continues to decimate swine herds worldwide, with mortality rates approaching 100% and no licensed vaccines or treatments available. Clinicians and veterinary specialists are now focusing on viral enzymes as druggable targets, notably by targeting the ATP domain of ASFV Type II DNA Topoisomerase to halt genome replication and assembly.
Deploying this enzyme‐centric strategy, research teams have employed virtual screening alongside molecular dynamics simulation techniques to sift through extensive compound libraries, isolating novel ligands that lock the topoisomerase in inactive conformations. This in silico prioritization dramatically reduces early‐stage attrition and refines candidates before entering cell‐based assays.
This momentum toward precision inhibitors is paralleled by transformative computational workflows: a study combining AI in antiviral discovery with traditional lab methods prioritized lead compounds against human enterovirus 71 in record time. Applying similar machine‐learning algorithms to ASFV could compress discovery timelines and enhance hit‐to‐lead efficiency.
While direct‐acting antivirals advance through preclinical pipelines, upstream prevention hinges on vigilant wildlife monitoring. In Southern Italy, systematic surveillance of bat coronaviruses has generated genomic snapshots of diverse lineages, underscoring the critical role of early detection in reservoir hosts to preempt zoonotic spillover.
Complementing field surveillance, advances in virus culture techniques—refined in hepatitis E research—provide robust platforms for isolating and phenotyping novel coronaviruses. Adapting these methods will streamline functional analyses and antiviral sensitivity testing of emergent strains.
Collectively, these converging efforts illustrate a dual imperative: integrate AI‐driven and structure‐based drug design to tackle established threats like ASFV while scaling molecular surveillance in wildlife reservoirs to intercept future zoonotic pathogens. What remains unclear is how these frameworks will perform across varied ecological settings and whether real‐time data sharing can keep pace with rapid viral evolution.