Early Diagnosis and Surveillance of Transboundary and Emerging Viral Diseases of Animals

Dear Colleagues,

Rapid and accurate identification is critical for the effective control and eradication of transboundary and emerging viral diseases. Most of these diseases cannot be differentially identified based on clinical signs, especially during the early stages of infection. The currently available diagnostic assays for transboundary viral diseases of animals are highly specific and sensitive; however, they are almost exclusively performed in central laboratories using sophisticated instrumentation by highly skilled laboratory staff. Some of the assays also requires the use of live virus and therefore cannot be performed outside high-containment laboratories, limiting their use. Furthermore, the sample types recommended for these assays are mostly based on individual animals, and therefore, the collection of these samples requires a substantial amount of human and financial resources, and often causes undue stress to the animals. Hence, in order to enhance surveillance for transboundary diseases in both endemic and disease-free countries, novel diagnostic tools and approaches are required.

In this Special Issue, we will focus on novel diagnostic approaches for the rapid detection of transboundary and emerging diseases, both in the laboratory as well as in the field. This Special Issue offers an opportunity for the scientists to share high-quality research in the areas of the development and/or validation of novel and/or improved diagnostic assays that can be used in both low- and high-containment laboratories or in the field (portable assays). This Special Issue also welcome studies conducted on the evaluation and/or validation of novel, alternative sample types that can be used for the early detection and/or the enhancement of ongoing surveillance of transboundary and emerging animal diseases. 

Dr. Aruna Ambagala
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. 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.

• diagnostics
• surveillance
• transboundary
• emerging
• animal diseases
• virus
• detection
• validation
• novel
• sample types
• alternative