Animal Health in Our Changing Climate

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change impacts the health and welfare of all types of animals in every type of habitat, including wild and domestic, terrestrial, and aquatic habitats. Because of this, animal health professionals from around the world have become increasingly concerned about climate change and focused on the possibilities for both the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change on behalf of the animals in their care. However, given the relatively new and rapidly evolving field of animal health research that addresses the climate crisis, it can be challenging to access the necessary information to respond rapidly and effectively. 

In this Special Issue, we seek to improve our knowledge about both the impacts of climate change on animals, and protective actions that can be taken.  Our goal is to present information regarding a wide variety of animal species from around the world.  We encourage submissions that address the established exposure pathways through which health is impacted (e.g., extreme weather, air pollution, increasing temperatures, food systems, water quality and vector-borne diseases) and the consequences of these impacts (e.g., poor welfare/well-being and reduced productivity), as well as submissions focused on climate solutions relevant to the animal health community (e.g., education, advocacy, behavior change, communication and policy).  We hope that the Special Issue will help to encourage further dialogue among animal health professionals and result in actions to address this extremely important, and urgent, problem.

Dr. Colleen Duncan
Dr. Simon Doherty
Dr. Angela E. Frimberger
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 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. Veterinary Sciences 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 2100 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.

• climate change
• sustainability
• animal health
• animal welfare
• environmental health