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Infectious Diseases in Animals: Community Ecology and Pathogen Dynamics, 2nd...
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Infectious Diseases in Animals: Community Ecology and Pathogen Dynamics, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Clinical Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 3952

Special Issue Editor

Dr. João R. Mesquita

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Guest Editor
1. Abel Salazar Biomedical Institute of Sciences (ICBAS), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
2. EPIUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Interests: transmissible diseases; zoonosis; epidemiology; infectious diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the beginning of time, animal pathogens have circulated worldwide, with many causing severe disease and death. Many of these diseases are known to be transmitted between animal species as well as between animals and humans, of which smallpox is a good example, having evolved from pathogens circulating in wildlife. Ecological changes can drive evolution and change the complex interplay between host–environment–pathogen, ultimately favoring transmission. A good example can be seen in the El Niño events of the 1990s that led to the emergence of human hantavirus cases in the US through an ecological cascade. Increased precipitation led to a growth in vegetation, which sustained increased populations of rodents, facilitating hantavirus transmission between rodents as well as from rodents to humans. These ecological changes can apply to the dynamics of pathogens within individual hosts, where pathogens evolve in a complex interaction with other microbes within a host. Hence, molecular factors and modes of transmission can determine the dissemination of a pathogen with diverse impacts on animal populations.

This is the second edition of this Special Issue, which aims to collect the most recent advances in animal infectious disease epidemiology. Original research articles and comprehensive reviews that cover community ecology and pathogen dynamics, including molecular aspects, transmission, infection, and pathology, are welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. João R. Mesquita
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

Keywords

  • animal infectious diseases
  • transmissible diseases
  • ecology
  • pathogens

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 702 KB  
Article
Molecular Screening of Sarcocystis spp. in Grazing Sheep (Ovis aries) and Shepherd Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) from Central Portugal
by Sara Gomes-Gonçalves, Ricardo J. Figueiredo, Soraia Rodrigues, Jaqueline T. Bento, Sérgio Santos-Silva, Daniela Almeida, Rita Cruz, Fernando Esteves, Alexandra Lameira Baptista, Maria Aires Pereira, Luís Cardoso and João R. Mesquita
Animals 2025, 15(23), 3479; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15233479 - 2 Dec 2025
Viewed by 684
Abstract
Sarcocystis spp. are cyst-forming protozoan parasites with a global distribution that infect a wide range of domestic and wild animals, impacting both animal health and livestock productivity. In sheep, infections can cause clinical disease, reproductive losses, and economic damage, particularly when pathogenic species [...] Read more.
Sarcocystis spp. are cyst-forming protozoan parasites with a global distribution that infect a wide range of domestic and wild animals, impacting both animal health and livestock productivity. In sheep, infections can cause clinical disease, reproductive losses, and economic damage, particularly when pathogenic species such as Sarcocystis tenella are involved. Grazing sheep, including breeds such as the Serra da Estrela from central Portugal, are at increased risk due to frequent contact with shepherd dogs, which serve as definitive hosts. Despite their significance, data on the occurrence and distribution of Sarcocystis spp. in Portuguese sheep remain limited. This study analyzed 179 samples collected in central Portugal during 2024, including 41 brain tissues and 88 blood samples from sheep, and 50 stool samples from shepherd dogs, using conventional PCR and bidirectional Sanger sequencing. Sarcocystis sp. closely related to S. tenella was detected exclusively in sheep brain tissue, with a prevalence of 4.9% (2/41; 95% CI: 0.60–16.53), while no parasite DNA was found in blood or dog samples. These results provide the first molecular confirmation of Sarcocystis spp. closely related to S. tenella in Portuguese sheep raised for human consumption and establish baseline data for future epidemiological surveillance and control strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infectious Diseases in Animals: Community Ecology and Pathogen Dynamics, 2nd Edition)
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Review

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31 pages, 2446 KB  
Review
Rhodotorula spp. in Laboratory and Veterinary Clinical Practice: Contamination or an Emerging Problem?
by Kacper Wykrętowicz, Ewelina Czyżewska-Dors, Arkadiusz Dors, Małgorzata Pomorska-Mól, Agata Augustyniak and Dominik Łagowski
Animals 2025, 15(22), 3299; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15223299 - 15 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2729
Abstract
Rhodotorula spp. are ubiquitous red-pigmented yeasts increasingly reported as opportunistic animal pathogens. Recognition matters because underdiagnosis can misguide therapy, especially in companion-animal otitis externa. This review supports laboratory and clinical decisions by summarising taxonomy and ecology, host risk factors, diagnostics, virulence factors, antifungal [...] Read more.
Rhodotorula spp. are ubiquitous red-pigmented yeasts increasingly reported as opportunistic animal pathogens. Recognition matters because underdiagnosis can misguide therapy, especially in companion-animal otitis externa. This review supports laboratory and clinical decisions by summarising taxonomy and ecology, host risk factors, diagnostics, virulence factors, antifungal susceptibility, and veterinary cases. This review addresses: (1) taxonomy and ecology; (2) clinical epidemiology and predisposing factors (immunomodulation, prior antibacterial therapy, chronic inflammation); (3) diagnostics—cytology, organism burden, repeat or pure culture, MALDI-TOF MS, ITS sequencing—with a brief comparison of feasibility in veterinary practice; (4) virulence factors—adhesion and biofilm on abiotic surfaces, hydrolytic enzymes, capsule in some strains, haemolysins, urease, and carotenoids that protect against oxidative stress; (5) antifungal susceptibility and therapy—intrinsic resistance to echinocandins, often high azole MICs, and the most consistent in vitro activity of amphotericin B ± flucytosine; and (6) a synthesis of veterinary case reports. Rhodotorula spp. should not be dismissed as contaminants when clinical signs match laboratory evidence; distinguishing infection from colonisation requires clinicomicrobiological correlation. This review highlights the need for standardised susceptibility testing and veterinary breakpoints, prospective data on burden and outcomes, better data on biofilm behaviour on clinical materials, environmental surveillance, and practical diagnostic and treatment guidance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infectious Diseases in Animals: Community Ecology and Pathogen Dynamics, 2nd Edition)
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