Assessments and Impact of Animal Diseases across the Food Chains

Dear Colleagues,

Veterinary Science has invited us as Guest Editors for a Special Issue entitled “Assessments and Impact of Animal Diseases across the Food Supply Chains”. The aim of this Special Issue is to address the impact of livestock diseases, including endemic diseases, from conception to consumption as a whole system. To address sustainable livestock health and productivity, food insecurity, poverty, malnutrition, and gender inequality, food waste, clean water supplies, local and global markets, food safety, and the impact of urbanization on disease in the food supply chain. We focus on urgent challenges within the One Health Concept that will not be solved without the active engagement of the developed world’s veterinary medical profession accompanied by modernization of veterinary services throughout the developing world.

We invite you to contribute your thoughts and experiences to this Special Issue of Veterinary Science in order to make the case for veterinary leadership with the vital, world-wide challenges of the veterinary profession in securing food security. Below are some of topics and issues that you may consider for your contributions within the subject matter of your experience and interest:

• Why are livestock production systems important to global food security and health? 
• The impact of animal diseases on the global health,  livestock farmers, and sustainable food security;
• Urbanization, affluence, impact on livestock production systems, poverty, gender inequality, animal health and global food security;
• Food safety, poverty, wet markets, supermarkets, disease transmission, consequences for public health;
• Advancement of food processing technologies, impact on reducing food waste and public health;
• The positive or negative link of free trade and World Trade Organizations to the spread of animal diseases; OIE, international standards;
• Assessment of the relationship between the incidence of animal diseases and climate changes;
• Scientific and veterinary community; their role in setting the policy for food and health security; breaking down silos; understanding cultural, environmental, and economic issues in food chains and policy development;
• New technologies. Participatory epidemiology, cell phones, communication technologies, vaccines;
• Antimicrobial therapy in livestock production systems and global health;
• Livestock disease control; capacity of veterinary services in the developing world.

Rationale:

Livestock and poultry are essential to global food security but they, and their products, can introduce pathogens at multiple sites into the world’s expanding food supply system presenting veterinary medicine and the One Health Initiative with an evolving challenge. To date, a major focus of One Health has been on a steadily growing list of emerging zoonotic diseases. Rapidly expanding food animal populations and changes in farming practice are partially responsible for the emergence and spread of several of these infections that present a threat to global health. Less attention has focused on endemic infectious diseases of livestock and poultry many of which are transmissible to humans. They present major challenges to health and sustainable food security in the developing world where they are not under acceptable control due to entrenched poverty and a deplorable lack of competent, comprehensive animal health delivery systems. The prevalence of livestock microbial and parasitic diseases, lack of hygiene, and poor infrastructure lead to food spoilage, undermine food safety and cause millions of cases of enteric disease, malnutrition, stunting and maternal and childhood mortality.  Endemic diseases perpetuate poverty among small farmers, they cause unsustainably low levels of productivity, food contamination, and stigma that excludes farmers from lucrative export and high value domestic markets.

The goal of this special edition of Veterinary Science is:

• to provoke a greater awareness and understanding of these evolving and vital food security challenges that entangle veterinary medicine throughout the world;
• to define the far-reaching One Health tasks that must be addressed to reduce animal and human inequality and suffering in the world;
• to inspire greater international support for the compelling values of veterinary medicine and One Health.

Prof. Dr. Mo Salman
Prof. Alan M. Kelly
Guest Editors

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 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.

• Food Security,
• Global Health Security,
• Animal Health