Can Biologists identify all viruses?

Question

I went to the doctor today with my girlfriend, and the doctor said that she had a virus but doesn't know which one and she should let the infection heal with some rest. The fact that the doctor didn't know what type of virus she has bothers me. Do physicians/biologists not know all the different types of viruses out there? Is it not possible to identify all of them?

Answer 1

Very expensive to do so. It's been estimated that there are as many as 320,000 different kinds of viruses that could be pathogenic and it would cost billions to identify them all.

Most viruses aren't treated with prescription medication, but rather bed rest and over the counter medications, because of this the need to identify it is usually lower. Unless influenza is suspected (which has a test readily available to doctors), sequencing a single virus takes A LOT of time and money, and often the resources aren't even available to do so...by the time they did identify it your gf will probably be feeling better. Unless it's a special case they are unlikely to try to figure out what kind it is.