While I was praying about viruses, I asked God to give me a fresh view. The word host came to mind.
One definition of a host is a person who receives or entertains other people as guests. That can be taken a step further, as in entertaining angels, or thoughts from God. Part of Mary Baker Eddy’s spiritual definition of angels in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is “God’s thoughts passing to man” (p. 581).
Quite another definition of host is an animal or plant that harbors a parasite. According to biology, viruses must have a host to reproduce and spread.