Not 1 virus has ever been isolated.
In case there was any doubt about the lab leak theory of coronavirus-2019 origins:
https://youtu.be/bOZzhCnoCpM?si=XNYwOxLhQAxdOGF5
Apparently the virus is adapted to evade mouse immune systems.
Discussion
I think you are correct
I think the pioneering work of virology was shoddy science (eg physical damage causing plant illness in Tobacco Mosaic Virus research)
I think the definition of virus has changed several times without finding a physical thing to nail down what exactly it is
I think strict germ theory a la Koch's postulates (in which a pathogen is both necessary and sufficient to cause illness) doesn't hold water; this is shown by Koch's own work on cholera as well as other experiments such as the attempts to spread 'Spanish' influenza in a controlled setting
All that said, I think contagion seems to be a real phenomenon (although strictly speaking what we really observe is clusters or sequences of illness) and this requires something like a pathogen to explain
I am inclined to think that some "viruses" are psychosomatic, environmental toxins, etc. but probably some are just smaller bacteria
On the other hand, the PCR-based method of "identifying" viruses introduces concern about whether you're really identifying the thing you think you're identifying
Yup, exactly. Agree with nearly all of that (and you did your research sir, wow). But for me it's Pasteur's earlier assumption that any contagion of an illness is necessarily caused by a pathogen that doesn't hold water.
Why can't it be something else? The pathogen-mentality drives research away from exploring and testing theories around Structured water, Bio-electric Fields, Morphic Resonance, Micro-waves, ... All things that are actually testable with existing techniques. They're also real cheap, observable without dubious use of an electron microscope and can have enormous practical benfit for the impacted individuals.