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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This is the expanded second edition of the Special Issue “Current Research on Infectious Diseases of Domestic Animals in a One Health Perspective”, the first edition of which resulted in 14 papers (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens/special_issues/domestic_animals).

One Health is a well-known strategy for promoting and developing interdisciplinary collaboration and communication on all aspects of health in humans, animals, and environmental domains. This approach is significant in response to pandemic threats such as the current deadly COVID-19 pandemic. This is the latest of several examples of the challenges represented by pathogens of animal origin on the health of the entire world (i.e., influenza virus, SARS). Analogously, the rapid increase in health problems due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) links to a circle that includes the therapeutic management of human and domestic animal diseases, the spread of AMR to bacteria into the environment, and their reoccurrence in both humans and animals. Moreover, developments in “-omics” techniques have significantly increased our capability to investigate all aspects of infectious diseases in a more detailed and holistic way. This context supports the importance of the current research on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and control of infectious diseases in domestic animals to reduce their frequency worldwide and decrease potential challenges to human health.

Therefore, Pathogens in this Special Issue is devoted both to original research and review articles on all aspects of infectious diseases in domestic animals (i.e., epidemiology, diagnosis, control, etc.) with a primary, but not exclusive, interest in diseases that could be transmitted to humans or that have similar features to human diseases. Studies related to AMR (resistance genes, resistance patterns, etc.) or linked to infectious disease control are also within the scope of this Special Issue.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to update our knowledge on all aspects of the current research on the infectious diseases of domestic animals from a One Health perspective to increase multidisciplinary cooperation and communication in the area of infectious diseases.

Prof. Dr. Alfonso Zecconi
Guest Editor

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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. Pathogens 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.

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2875 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Innovative Elastomers with Antimicrobial Activity May Decrease Infection Risks during Milking

by Gabriele Meroni, Valerio Sora, Francesca Zaghen, Giulia Laterza, Piera Anna Martino and Alfonso Zecconi

Pathogens 2023, 12(12), 1431; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12121431 - 8 Dec 2023

Viewed by 804

Abstract

Contagious pathogens are very costly to dairy herds, and they may have zoonotic and reverse-zoonotic potentials and may contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance. One of the most important risk factors for spreading these infections is milking, when liner contamination may transfer the pathogens from infected to healthy cows. There is no effective protocol to prevent the transmission of infection without the segregation of infected cows. Recently, the availability of elastomers with patented antimicrobial components in their formulations has allowed the exploration of alternative methods to reduce the risk of infection. Two different types of elastomers (rubber and silicone) and nine different formulations were challenged with three major mastitis pathogens (S. aureus, S. agalactiae, and E. coli). The results that were obtained in this study were interesting and unexpected. Indeed, to our knowledge, this is the first study to show that basic rubber materials have intrinsic antimicrobial activity. Silicone elastomers did not exhibit the same levels of bactericidal activity, although they did exhibit some antibacterial capacity. A significant decrease in bacterial survival curves was observed for all the formulations tested when antimicrobial components were added. The different results observed for the various products are likely due to the different formulations and diverse manufacturing processes. The availability of these new materials that significantly reduce the bacterial load on the liner surface may reduce the risk of spreading intramammary infections during milking. This would be an important step forward in achieving global sustainability of dairy herds, consistent with the objectives of One Health, by reducing the risks of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial treatments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Infectious Diseases of Domestic Animals in a One Health Perspective—Volume II)

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11 pages, 640 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Molecular Characterization of Lyssaviruses Originating from Domestic and Wild Cats Provides an Insight on the Diversity of Lyssaviruses and a Risk of Rabies Transmission to Other Susceptible Mammals and Humans in South Africa

by Kefentse Tsie, Ernest Ngoepe, Baby Phahladira, Nelisiwe Khumalo and Claude Sabeta

Pathogens 2023, 12(10), 1212; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12101212 - 2 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1102

Abstract

Rabies is one of the most significant public and veterinary health problems, causing approximately 59,000 human deaths annually in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. The aetiologic agent, a viral species of the Lyssavirus genus, is highly neurotropic and has a wide host range, including terrestrial mammals and several Chiropteran species. The Lyssavirus mokola (MOKV) was first isolated in the late 1960s from organ pools of shrews (Crocidura flavescens manni) in the Mokola forest (Nigeria). To date, at least 30 MOKV isolations have been confirmed, all exclusively from Africa, with 73% from southern Africa. There is limited knowledge about the epidemiology of MOKV, and the reservoir host species is unknown. Here, we report on the molecular characterization of rabies viruses originating from both domestic and African wild cats. A partial region of the lyssavirus genome, encoding the nucleoprotein, was amplified and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that 98% of cats were infected with both the canid and mongoose rabies virus variants, as well as a rare lyssavirus, Lyssavirus mokola, from a domestic cat from Eswatini. Furthermore, the nucleotide sequence divergence between the recently identified MOKV isolate and the historical Lyssavirus mokola isolates ranged from 6.8% to 8.3%. This study further highlights the association between the potential host species of Lyssavirus mokola and the domestic cat as an incidental host, and the important role cats may play in rabies transmission dynamics in the country. Therefore, continuous vaccination of domestic cats against rabies is crucial, even after the elimination of dog-mediated rabies, as spillover related to sylvatic rabies cycles is likely to occur. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Infectious Diseases of Domestic Animals in a One Health Perspective—Volume II)

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