Advances in Poultry Cellular Immunity and Viral Disease Control

Dear Colleagues,

Avian animals encompass a broad range of species such as chicken, duck and goose, playing a crucial role in global food security. Despite the considerable increase in poultry growth in recent years, the severe impact of viral diseases on production performance remains the most critical challenge to the sustainable development of the industry worldwide. In addition, in some cases, avian diseases can be transmitted to and cause diseases in humans.

Cellular immune responses play pivotal roles in the control of viral infection, especially T-cell-mediated protective immunity as indicated against viral diseases. Understanding cellular immunity to pathogens is crucial to the development of effective vaccines, interpreting disease pathogenesis, understanding immune protection mechanisms, and calibrating pandemic control measures. CD8+ T cells with cytotoxic activity can eliminate viruses by recognizing and killing virus-infected cells, whereas CD4+ T cells convey a multiplicity of functions key to coordinating and regulating antiviral immunity. After infection, activated CD4 and CD8 T cells eliminate infected cells, control the inflammatory milieu, and facilitate the optimization of the humoral response. Furthermore, T-cells have been shown to mediate protection in multiple animals of avian diseases, particularly in the absence of antibody-mediated protection. More recently, multiple studies have enhanced our understanding of the cellular immunity to pathogens in poultry.

This Special Issue is devoted to providing new insights into cellular immunity to viruses in poultry, exploring the immunity and pathogenesis of viral disease, mechanisms of protective immunity to viruses, and descriptions of novel tools and techniques. Knowledge provided by this Special Issue aims to facilitate the development of related biological products and the effective control of diseases in poultry.

We welcome the submission of original research, review and perspective articles on topics, including, but not limited to, the following:

• T-cell activation and antigen presentation.
• Phenotypes and functions of T-cell correlates with immune protection against viral disease in poultry.
• Cell-mediated immunity in the context of viral diseases in poultry.
• Novel and improved techniques to study cell-mediated immunity in poultry.
• T-cell vaccine development in poultry.

Dr. Xiaoli Hao
Guest Editor

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.

• poultry
• cellular immunity
• T cell
• virus