Tackling Emerging Zoonotic Diseases with a One Health Approach

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases pose a significant threat to global health and economic stability. These diseases, which account for approximately 75% of all emerging infectious diseases, are caused by a diverse range of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. They are transmitted through various pathways—direct contact, aerosols, vectors, or vertical transmission—and are prevalent across all continents except Antarctica. Their emergence is driven by a convergence of factors such as environmental changes, urbanization, industrialization, and the destruction of wildlife habitats, which increase human–animal interactions and the risk of cross-species transmission. Climate change further exacerbates this risk by altering ecosystems and amplifying disease transmission dynamics.

To address these multifaceted challenges, a One Health approach is essential. This multidisciplinary framework emphasizes collaboration across human, animal, and environmental health sectors to effectively detect, prevent, and control zoonotic diseases. Key to this approach are innovations in pathogen surveillance, enhanced laboratory capabilities, improved data sharing, and integrated outbreak response mechanisms. Furthermore, understanding the complex sociological and ecological factors influencing disease transmission is critical to implementing sustainable detection and control strategies.

This Special Issue invites contributions that explore the drivers of zoonotic disease emergence, case studies of outbreaks, advancements in diagnostic tools, and the application of the One Health concept. By bringing together diverse expertise, this collection aims to deepen our understanding of zoonoses and foster multisectoral partnerships to enhance global health security and resilience against future zoonotic threats.

Dr. Laura Bellinati
Dr. Elisa Mazzotta
Dr. Greta Foiani
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 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.