Molecular Approaches to Control Intestinal Parasites in Animals

Dear Colleagues,

Intestinal parasites cause significant morbidity and mortality to humans, livestock, and companion animals throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies most parasitic diseases as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) and intestinal protozoa are distributed widely throughout the world and are more prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical regions. STHs (Ascaris lumbricoides, Ancylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus, Strongyloides stercoralis, and Trichuris trichiura) affect more than 2 billion people worldwide. These species produce a wide array of symptoms, from asymptomatic (not reporting intestinal complaints) to including diarrhea, abdominal pain, general malaise, and weakness, which may impact learning capacities and impaired physical growth. Hookworms cause chronic intestinal blood loss that results in anemia, significantly impacting health. Infections with pathogenic intestinal protozoa infections, primarily Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica, are also of considerable public health importance. Over the last several years, we have seen new approaches being developed for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of intestinal protozoan parasites. However, with few promising small molecule candidates appearing on the horizon for intestinal parasites, novel therapeutics with differing modes of action and control strategies are urgently needed.

This Special Issue intends to showcase the most recent advances in the control of intestinal parasites, with a focus on their application in livestock and poultry industries and in reducing the risk of transmission to humans. The studies on all aspects of conventional and novel parasite control strategies will be considered, including, but not limited to:

• Mechanisms of action of novel small molecules with anthelmintic potential;
• In silico simulation of natural products as novel anti-parasitics;
• Alternative parasite control strategies;
• Novel vaccines and vaccine targets as well as their delivery methods;
• Novel biologics and protein based therapeutics;
• Mechanisms of anthelmintic drug resistance;
• Novel methods that enable modelling parasite distribution shifts and transmission in the context of climate changes.

We invite the submission of all article types, including review and original manuscripts as well as brief communications and case reports. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline and will be peer-reviewed as they are received. Accepted papers will be published online continuously. All papers from this Special Issue will also be published as an e-book or printed book.

Prof. Dr. Robert Li
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. 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.