Virulence Mechanisms, Detection and Control of Aquatic Animal Viruses: 2nd Edition
A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Pathogens".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 2990
Special Issue Editor
Interests: veterinary virology; aquatic viruses; biology of viral pathogens; mechanisms of virus virulence; viral pathogenesis; improvement in methods of virus detection and control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Aquaculture is now the main source of seafood for human consumption and is projected to rise to 62% by 2030 as catches from wild capture fisheries continue to be flat for the foreseeable future. The fast growth of intensive aquaculture in the last 4 decades has been accompanied by the emergence of aquatic animal viruses that impose severe economic losses on the aquaculture industry. This is inherent in farming a large number of animal species in the aquatic environment that may be a viral reservoir, and particularly in marine aquaculture, where the farmer has less control of the system. Several strategies are used to ensure the sustainability of this industry, including improved biocontainment systems, improved biosecurity, implementation of diagnostic tools and surveillance programs for the early detection of virus infections, the use of efficacious viral vaccines in finfish aquaculture, the selection and breeding of disease resistant strains, and the use of immunostimulants, probiotics/prebiotics/symbiotics, and other novel control technologies (e.g., RNA interference, RNAi) where vaccination is not as effective, such as in crustacean and mollusk aquaculture. These strategies have been supported by the development of reverse genetic systems of aquatic animal RNA viruses, allowing for the genetic manipulation of viral genomes, which has facilitated the identification of virulence factors (i.e., gene products that influence high virulence of aquatic animal viruses) and development of improved diagnostics and vaccines. Moreover, viral metagenomic studies have considerably broadened our understanding of virus evolution, placing viral disease emergence in a broader evolutionary context.
This Special Issue of Pathogens aims to cover the broad spectrum of recent advances in research on virulence mechanisms and the detection, prevention, and control of aquatic animal viruses. Our purpose is to compile a body of work identifying virulence mechanisms in aquatic animal viruses with the aim of improving strategies for the detection, prevention, and control of aquatic animal viruses in order to mitigate the risk of the rapid spread of viruses and development of clinical disease so to stem the tide of emerging aquatic animal viruses. We therefore encourage the submission of review articles, full-length original research articles or short communications, or a commentary covering any aspect of these topics. Articles on virus evolution will also be considered. We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions that will promote further developments in this field.
I am honored and delighted to continue to guest-edit this Special Issue and thank you for your anticipated contribution.
Prof. Dr. Frederick Kibenge
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. Pathogens 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 2200 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
- pathogenesis
- virus virulence
- biosecurity
- virulence factors
- reverse genetics
- metagenomics
- next-generation sequencing (NGS)
- in vitro growth kinetics
- virus discovery
- RNA interference (RNAi)
- viral proteins
- viral vaccines
- immunostimulants
- virus evolution
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.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
