Prioritizing Diseases for Public Health in Emergency Contexts: A WHO Initiative

Dear Colleagues,

Globally, the number of potentially pathogenic microorganisms is very large, while resources for disease Research and Development (R&D) are limited. To ensure that efforts are targeted and productive, the World Health Organization (WHO) has compiled a list of priority diseases and pathogens for R&D in emergency contexts. These diseases represent the greatest risk to public health due to their pandemic-epidemic potential and/or the absence or insufficiency of countermeasures. This systematic approach explicitly aims to enable early and cross-cutting R&D preparation, also relevant for an unknown «Disease X». It represents the realization that a major international threat could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown as a cause of human disease.  At present, the priority infectious diseases are: (I) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); (II) Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS); (III) Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS); (IV) Nipah & Henipaviral Diseases; (V) Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF); (VI) Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever (MHF); (VII) Lassa Hemorrhagic Fever (LHF); (VIII) Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF); (IX) Rift Valley Fever (RVF); (X) Zika Fever; (XI) Monkeypox; (XII) Plague. The scope of this Special Issue is therefore R&D in all these diseases to ensure progress in the interest of mankind and future generations, who in turn must absolutely respect the animals and nature around us following the One Health approach to avoid the outbreak of the aforementioned «Disease X».

Dr. Luca Roncati
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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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.

• coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
• middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS)
• nipah virus
• ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF)
• marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF)
• lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF)
• crimean–congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF)
• rift valley fever (RVF)
• zika fever
• monkeypox
• plague