Pathogens in Wildlife and Companion Animal: From Discovery to One Health Implications

Dear Colleagues,

Wildlife and companion animals play increasingly recognized roles in the ecology, evolution, and transmission of diverse pathogens, but these processes do not occur in isolation. Environmental factors—such as habitat alteration, climate variability, pollution, and human-driven landscape changes—create dynamic ecological interfaces that shape pathogen persistence, transmission opportunities, and cross-species contacts. As urbanization accelerates and wildlife–human–pet interactions intensify, understanding the pathogens that circulate across these animal populations and their surrounding environmental reservoirs will be essential for protecting animal health, ecosystem stability, and public health.

This Special Issue aims to integrate high-quality research spanning microbial and viral pathogens in wildlife and companion animals, with particular attention on the environmental conditions that influence pathogen ecology. We seek studies that move from pathogen discovery and molecular characterization toward broader ecological, environmental, and One Health-relevant insights. Work examining how environmental drivers mediate host–pathogen interactions, shape transmission routes among wildlife, pets, livestock, and humans, or promote pathogen emergence and spillover is especially encouraged.

Topics of interest include the following:

• Identification and characterization of viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal pathogens in wildlife and companion animals;
• Comparative pathogen ecology across wildlife and domestic companion species;
• Cross-species transmission pathways and zoonotic potential;
• Molecular epidemiology, genomics, and evolutionary patterns of pathogens;
• Surveillance strategies and diagnostic advances for wildlife and pet-associated diseases;
• The environmental and anthropogenic drivers influencing pathogen emergence;
• Health risks at the wildlife–pet–human interface within the One Health framework.

This Special Issue welcomes original research, reviews, and methodological advances that will contribute to a deeper understanding of the infectious threats shared among wildlife, companion animals, and humans.

Dr. Ziyao Zhou
Prof. Dr. Zhijun Zhong
Guest Editors

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• environmental reservoirs
• environmental drivers
• ecological interface
• habitat change
• environmental transmission
• anthropogenic pressures
• climate-related disease risk