Molecular Epidemiology and Surveillance of Major Enteric Viruses

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Virology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 626

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienze per la Promozione della Salute, Materno-Infantile, di Medicina Interna e Specialistica di Eccellenza “G. D’Alessandro”, Università di Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy
Interests: rotavirus; norovirus; astrovirus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Enteric viruses remain among the leading causes of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) worldwide and represent a substantial public health burden. AGE accounts for more than 200,000 pediatric deaths annually, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries, while in high income settings it results in significant healthcare utilization, emergency department visits and hospitalizations, with considerable economic consequences. The most clinically relevant enteric viruses include group A rotavirus, norovirus, adenovirus types 40/41 and astrovirus. In recent years, emerging echovirus variants have also been associated with severe and occasionally fatal infections in several geographical regions. Additional viruses, such as toroviruses, picobirnaviruses, aichiviruses and enteroviruses may contribute to disease burden to a lesser extent. Enteric viruses constitute a functional rather than a taxonomic group, sharing common biological and epidemiological features. Transmission occurs primarily through the fecal–oral route, although direct person to person spread is also common. Contaminated water, food and environmental surfaces (fomites) play a major role in disseminating these pathogens, contributing to numerous foodborne and waterborne outbreaks worldwide. A key challenge in the study and control of enteric viruses is their high antigenic and genetic diversity. Many of these viruses evolve rapidly and comprise multiple serotypes, genotypes and variants. This diversity complicates molecular classification, limits the sensitivity of diagnostic assays and hinders the development of effective vaccines.

The Special Issue entitled "Molecular Epidemiology and Surveillance of Major Enteric Viruses" aims to present recent research on any aspect of the molecular epidemiology of major enteric viruses. Some of its focal points include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Molecular epidemiology and phylogenetic analyses
  2. Genotyping strategies and genomic characterization
  3. Evolutionary dynamics, viral diversity and adaptation
  4. Advances in molecular diagnostics and surveillance technologies
  5. Outbreak detection, investigation and control measures
  6. Environmental and wastewater monitoring of enteric viruses
  7. Prevention strategies, vaccines and antiviral approaches

Reviews, original research and communications are welcome.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Applied Microbiology.

Dr. Floriana Bonura
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. 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.

Keywords

  • enteric viruses
  • molecular epidemiology
  • genotyping and viral evolution
  • surveillance and diagnostics
  • infection control

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 4122 KB  
Article
Complex Recombination Landscape and Lineage Turnover in Classical Human Astroviruses
by Yulia Aleshina, Vladimir Frantsuzov and Alexander Lukashev
Microorganisms 2026, 14(4), 857; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14040857 - 10 Apr 2026
Viewed by 417
Abstract
Human astroviruses are small, non-enveloped RNA viruses belonging to the family Astroviridae. Among the four species known to infect humans, the species Mamastrovirus hominis (the classical human astroviruses, formerly MAstV1) is associated with gastrointestinal illness worldwide, while three more recently identified species [...] Read more.
Human astroviruses are small, non-enveloped RNA viruses belonging to the family Astroviridae. Among the four species known to infect humans, the species Mamastrovirus hominis (the classical human astroviruses, formerly MAstV1) is associated with gastrointestinal illness worldwide, while three more recently identified species have been linked to lethal central nervous system infections. High substitution rates and recombination drive their rapid evolution, yet recombination patterns in classical human astroviruses remain poorly characterized. This study systematically analyzes patterns and temporal dynamics of natural recombination in classical human astroviruses. Publicly available genomes of classical human astroviruses were analyzed to identify recombination hotspots. Recombinant forms were defined as stable phylogenetic lineages unaffected by recombination, and their half-lives were estimated based on time-scaled phylogenies (BEAST2v2.7.7). Recombination in classical human astroviruses occurred most frequently at the ORF1b/ORF2 junction, but also within ORF1a, at the ORF1a/ORF1b junction, and within ORF2. Only the 3′-part of ORF1a and a fragment of ORF1b exhibited robust temporal signal, yielding substitution rates of 2.35 × 10−3 and 2.14 × 10−3 s/s/y, respectively. The half-lives of recombinant forms varied considerably by genomic region: longest for exchanges between the parts of ORF1a (21 years), intermediate for ORF1a/ORF1b recombinants (7–9 years), and shortest for ORF1ab/ORF2 recombinants (2.5–3.6 years). The estimated half-lives for recombinants align with those reported for human enteroviruses and noroviruses. These findings highlight the dynamics of the generation of astrovirus diversity and may inform advanced surveillance of emerging strains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Epidemiology and Surveillance of Major Enteric Viruses)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop