Vector-Borne Infections in Wildlife: Second Edition

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is a continuation of our previous Special Issue, Vector-Borne Infections in Wildlife (https://www.mdpi.com/si/116356).

Recently, the incidence of vector-borne diseases in humans and animals has increased due to multiple factors which, in combination, increase the chances of contact between wild animals and associated ectoparasites, domestic animals, and humans. The flow of vector-borne pathogens may occur bi-directionally between wildlife and domestic animals. The main factors associated with the emergence or re-emergence of vector-borne diseases are climate change (including global warming), outdoor activities, global travel, urbanization, changes in land use, deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and natural environment encroachment. These factors lead to a higher contact rate among wildlife, humans, and domestic animals. The use of molecular tools facilitates the diagnosis, identification, and genotyping of this group of pathogens. An increase in the awareness of vector-borne agents/diseases within veterinarians, physicians, scientists, and public health authorities has resulted in the advancement of knowledge on vector-borne infections in wild animals.

Wild animals are considered the primary source of the transmission of vector-borne zoonotic agents to humans. The dynamic of vector-borne agent transmission has been driven by different vertebrate host species living in sympatry. In this scenario, the overlapping of different species’ ecological niches creates opportunities for these agents to spread their geographical distribution and host range and grow in numbers. As a consequence, several newly discovered arthropod-borne pathogens originating from wildlife have emerged or re-emerged.

This Special Issue of Microorganisms will include articles concerning vector-borne pathogens among different species of wild animals (free-ranging or captive), including those viewed under the ‘One Health’ approach. Submissions can refer to the causal agents of such infections, as well as to all aspects of relevant diseases, including diagnosis, pathogenesis, transmission, epidemiology and molecular epidemiology, and surveillance and control. Studies performed on wild animals describing original field, laboratory, or experimental work, as well as systematic or opinionated reviews, are welcome.

Dr. Marcos Rogério André
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• vector-borne agents
• Bartonella
• Borrelia
• Haemosporida
• Hemoplasmas
• Hepatozoon
• Filarids
• Piroplasmida
• Rickettsiales
• Trypanosomatidae