VIDHOP, viral host prediction with deep learning

Zoonosis, the natural transmission of infections from animals to humans, is a far-reaching global problem. The recent outbreaks of Zikavirus, Ebolavirus and Coronavirus are examples of viral zoonosis, which occur more frequently due to globalization. In case of a virus outbreak, it is helpful to know which host organism was the original carrier of the virus to prevent further spreading of viral infection. Recent approaches aim to predict a viral host based on the viral genome, often in combination with the potential host genome and arbitrarily selected features. These methods are limited in the number of different hosts they can predict or the accuracy of the prediction.