Contemporary Health Issues of Aquatic Organisms-Special Issue Dedicated to Dr. Rocco Cipriano
A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1921
Special Issue Editors
Interests: diseases of aquatic animals; host-pathogen interaction; diagnosis of diseases; pathogenic mechanisms of infectious diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are humbled for the opportunity to be the Guest Editor of this Special Issue in the highly regarded journal Microorganisms dedicated to Dr. Rocco C. Cipriano of the United States Geological Service, Leetown Science Center-Fish Health Laboratory, Leetown, West Virginia. Dr. Cipriano dedicated his very productive career to studying diseases of aquatic animals, developing enhanced diagnostics, and designing biosecurity strategies to mitigate their effects. His passion to go beyond political borders to gather aquatic animal health professionals from allover the world created an unparallel platform to exchange ideas and experiences and was an inspiration to scientists, seniors, and juniors alike. We, his students, friends, colleagues, and collaborators, are assembling this Special Issue on emerging infectious diseases of aquatic organisms as a tribute to Dr. Cipriano outstanding career.
As you are aware, all aquatic organisms, regardless of their taxonomic affiliations, have recently been faced with challenges of unprecedented magnitude that can threaten their existence. Among these challenges, ongoing climate change occupies a central position due to its cascading physical, chemical, and biological effects. Such adverse effects may facilitate the emergence of novel pathogens and compromise host defense mechanisms thereby leading to devastating ecological and economic consequences. Antimicrobial resistant strains, the white spot syndrome virus in shrimp, Perkinsosis in shellfish, bleaching of coral organisms, tilapia lake virus of cichlids, chytridiomycosis of amphibians, paramyxoviruses of marine mammals, and wasting disease of sea grass, are just examples of emerging diseases and pathogens that have devastated communities of aquatic organisms worldwide. Though not proven, climate change, habitat loss, anthropogenic activities, trade of live organisms, and aquaculture practices have contributed to the emergence of novel pathogens and resurgence of old ones. To face these challenges, scientists are encouraged to unravel the underlying mechanisms of pathogen emergence and develop adaptive strategies that managers implement for conserving aquatic communities at risk.
This Special Issue with your valuable collection of research papers and critical reviews and case studies will provide a panoramic platform through which scientists and managers communicate their research and strategies for prevention and control of emerging pathogens under the One Health concept. Your manuscripts addressing prokaryote and eucaryote disease ecology, conservation medicine, epidemiology, and underlying molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions will fill an important gap of knowledge.
Dr. Mohamed Faisal
Dr. Thomas Loch
Guest Editors
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
- antimicrobial resistance
- emerging pathogens of aquatic organisms
- epidemiology
- pathogenesis
- immunology
- disease ecology
- role of climatic change in pathogen emergence
- prevention and control
- vaccine
- metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses
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