Tuberculosis Epidemiology and Control in Multi-Host Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Animal tuberculosis (zoonotic tuberculosis, TB), caused by infection with Mycobacterium bovis and other closely related members of the M. tuberculosis complex (MTC), is a global problem affecting human health and livelihood, animal health and welfare, and conservation. Despite MTC being a typical multi-host pathogen, in most industrialized countries, existing TB control schemes are restricted to the target domestic host, cattle.  In developing countries, where the zoonotic risk is highest, TB control schemes in livestock are generally incipient or even absent. In both situations, examples of holistic TB control approaches, i.e. those addressing all suitable domestic and wild maintenance hosts and exploring the benefits of all suitable TB-control tools, remain exceptional. If nothing changes, animal TB will remain one of the biggest health challenges of the 21^st century. Science contributes innovative approaches for TB control, with new insights coming from several fields including the global fight to control human TB caused by M. tuberculosis; new vaccine candidates; characterization of host-pathogen molecular interactions for the identification of new targets for disease diagnosis, control and prevention; novel molecular epidemiology results at the cell, host and population scale; information on animal ecology, epidemiology and modeling in multi-host systems; and social science and policy aspects of animal TB control, among other fields. These novelties need to be taken up by both existing and incipient TB-control schemes in order to benefit from a science-based TB control policy. This Special Issue welcomes contributions (original papers and reviews) on any of the aforementioned aspects and will equally value critical and constructive evaluations of existing TB control schemes.

Prof. Dr. Christian Gortázar
Prof. Dr. Jose de la Fuente
Guest Editors

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