Pathology and Diagnosis of Infectious and Neoplastic Diseases in Wildlife: Morphological and Molecular Approaches

Dear Colleagues,

Wildlife health increasingly influences animal conservation, ecosystem stability, and One Health. This Special Issue invites original research, short communications, case series, and reviews addressing infectious and neoplastic diseases in free-ranging and captive wildlife, including zoo and rescue-center animals. We particularly welcome studies that integrate morphology with modern diagnostics—histopathology, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, PCR/qPCR/ddPCR, metagenomics, targeted panels, and digital or AI-assisted pathology. Submissions may cover lesion characterization, differential diagnosis, biomarker discovery, pathogen detection/typing, pathogenesis, host–pathogen interactions, outbreak investigations, and translational insights relevant to domestic species and public health. Reports that connect classical pathology with molecular readouts (e.g., IHC–PCR concordance, spatial mapping of pathogens, or genotype–phenotype correlations) are encouraged. Method papers, validated protocols, and practical diagnostic algorithms applicable to field or zoo settings are welcome. Ethical compliance, biosafety, and sample stewardship should be clearly documented. Through this scope, the Special Issue aims to provide a comparative, practice-oriented reference for veterinarians, pathologists, microbiologists, wildlife clinicians, and conservation teams.

Prof. Dr. Sang-Ik Park
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.