Infectious Diseases and Immunization in Animals

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Vaccines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 532

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), Oeiras, Portugal
2. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Lusófoma, Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: infectious diseases; virology; immunology; microbiology; veterinary pathology; vaccination; new technology; artificial intelligence; host–pathogen interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Bacteriology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Interests: veterinary bacteriology; veterinary virology; veterinary pathology; antimicrobial resistance; vaccination in animals; host–pathogen interactions; zoonoses; diagnostics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, entitled "Infectious Diseases and Immunization in Animals", focuses on the latest research and strategies for combating infectious diseases in animal populations through immunization. These diseases impact animal and human health, food security, and global economic stability. As pathogens evolve, there is a growing need for effective immunization and disease management approaches across various species. We invite high-quality manuscripts covering themes such as the emergence of infectious diseases, zoonotic disease transmission, and the role of immunization in preventing spillover events. Topics of interest include host–pathogen interactions, vaccine efficacy, and advancements in vaccine technologies like mRNA and vector-based systems. We also encourage submissions that assess vaccination campaigns, case studies on controlling animal diseases, and animal immunization's economic and ethical dimensions. This issue fosters dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, promoting understanding and innovation in infectious disease control and animal immunization. We look forward to receiving contributions that help shape this critical field's future.

Dr. Fábio Abade dos Santos
Dr. Ezgi Akdesir
Dr. Jelena Prpić
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • animal vaccination
  • zoonotic diseases
  • One Health
  • host–pathogen interaction
  • veterinary immunology
  • emerging infectious diseases
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • vaccine development

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 1386 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Bacillus Calmette–Guérin Vaccination and Mycobacterium bovis Infection on Diagnostic Antibody Tests for Mycobacterial Infections
by Thomas Holder, Nick Robinson and Gareth J. Jones
Vaccines 2025, 13(6), 578; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13060578 - 28 May 2025
Viewed by 295
Abstract
Background: Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease which causes significant damage to the farming industry and remains a disease of global significance. Although control strategies have focused on a test and cull approach primarily based around specific cell-mediated immune responses, serological assays [...] Read more.
Background: Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease which causes significant damage to the farming industry and remains a disease of global significance. Although control strategies have focused on a test and cull approach primarily based around specific cell-mediated immune responses, serological assays are increasingly being used as a supplementary test alongside skin testing and interferon-gamma release (IGRA) assays. The UK is moving towards the use of the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination of cattle as an additional targeted control tool against bTB. However, there are concerns over its potential impact on the outcomes of bTB diagnostic tests and other non-TB assays, such as serological tests for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Methods: We investigated the performance of commercially available serology tests designed to detect bTB and MAP using serum samples from BCG-vaccinated animals which were subsequently infected with Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). Results: BCG vaccination per se did not significantly impact the specificity of serological diagnostic tests for bTB or Johne’s disease. However, increased numbers of false-positive responses in bTB serology tests were seen in BCG-vaccinated animals 3 weeks following a tuberculin skin test, where up to 23% and 54% of animals gave a positive result in IDEXX and Enferplex tests, respectively. Furthermore, M. bovis infection gave rise to false-positive test results for Johne’s disease, irrespective of the animals’ prior BCG vaccination status. Conclusions: Caution should be taken when assessing results from serology tests for bTB if tuberculin skin testing has occurred shortly before collection of blood from BCG-vaccinated cattle. Furthermore, these results highlight the potential for misdiagnosis of MAP infection when using serology tests in bTB-infected cattle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Infectious Diseases and Immunization in Animals)
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