The frequent emergence of novel viral pathogens with pandemic potential highlights the need for improved methods for detecting and surveilling novel pathogens. Unlike sequence-dependent approaches like qPCR, next-generation sequencing (NGS) can be used to identify viruses without existing sequence knowledge. Existing target enrichment panels substantially increase the analytical sensitivity of NGS for this purpose, but comprehensive panels for unbiased virus identification are lacking. Filling this unmet need, the Twist Comprehensive Viral Research Panel allows researchers to quickly capture and sequence unknown pathogens and highly divergent viral strains.