Emerging Bat-Borne Viruses: Mechanisms, Surveillance, and Future Directions
A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 17 June 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Bats harbor one of the largest and oldest reservoirs of viral diversity among mammals, including several pathogens capable of causing serious illness in humans. Their unique ecological characteristics—such as their long lifespan, ability to fly, social aggregation, and wide geographic distribution—make them key species for understanding the dynamics of viral maintenance and transmission. In recent decades, bat-borne viruses, such as Nipah, Hendra, SARS-related coronaviruses, and filoviruses, have highlighted the importance of uncovering the ecological and evolutionary forces that determine the risk of transmission. At the same time, environmental changes, land use transformation, and human encroachment on wildlife habitats continue to increase opportunities for pathogen exchange between species.
This Special Issue focuses on the ecological, evolutionary, and molecular mechanisms that drive the emergence of bat-borne viruses and their transmission to human and animal populations. Our goal is to gather cutting-edge research on viral diversity, host–virus interactions, environmental factors, transmission pathways, and public health preparedness. Studies integrating field ecology, virology, genomics, One Health approaches, and predictive modeling are especially welcome. We also encourage contributions exploring surveillance strategies, early warning systems, and frameworks for anticipating future outbreaks.
Dr. Daniel Cisterna
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 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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses 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 2600 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.
Keywords
- bat-borne viruses
- spillover
- viral emergence
- One Health
- genomic surveillance
- zoonoses
- host–virus interactions
- predictive modeling
- wildlife reservoirs
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