Modeling Zoonotic and Vector-Borne Viruses in Evolving Ecological Systems

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 32

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Mathematics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA
Interests: COVID-19 epidemiology; infectious diseases modelling; COVID-19 during pregnancy; SARS-CoV-2 vertical transmission; systematic review and meta-analysis
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Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Interests: machine learning; AI; infectious diseases; climate modeling

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Guest Editor
School of Finance and Operations Management, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
Interests: healthcare analytics; population health; transportation and logistics; artificial intelligence

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rising prevalence and spread of zoonotic and vector-borne viruses present a significant challenge to global health, further intensified by climate change. Shifting climate patterns and other transmission drivers, such as human responses to prevention and control of vectors, have profound effects on ecosystems and virus transmission dynamics. These changes expand the habitats of vectors and hosts and modify the risk landscape for viral spillover into human populations.

Understanding the complex interactions that drive virus spread, predict outbreak patterns, and assess mitigation measures is essential for strengthening global health preparedness and response. This Special Issue of Viruses is dedicated to advancing the field of infectious disease modeling by focusing on the transmission dynamics, mitigation strategies, forecasting, and epidemiological characteristics of zoonotic and vector-borne viruses.

We invite research contributions that employ mathematical and/or statistical models to explore how factors such as climate change, human behavior, and other environmental shifts influence the transmission, spread, and control of zoonotic and vector-borne viruses. This issue aims to bridge knowledge gaps surrounding virus–host–vector–environment interactions and foster the development of comprehensive approaches to mitigate viral transmission risks in the context of a changing climate.

We encourage submissions in the following (but not limited to) areas:

  • Modeling approaches to elucidate the transmission dynamics of zoonotic and vector-borne viruses;
  • Predictive modeling and forecasting of outbreaks in response to climate variability;
  • Control strategies and intervention efficacy assessments for reducing transmission risks;
  • Influence of human behavior on the dynamics of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases;
  • Epidemiological studies of virus–host–vector–environment relationships;
  • Machine learning and AI models that focus on epidemiology to enhance prediction accuracy and intervention effectiveness for zoonotic and vector-borne viruses.

Dr. Salihu S. Musa
Dr. Sani Isah Abba
Dr. Ismail Abdulrashid
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. 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

  • zoonotic viruses
  • vector-borne diseases
  • climate change and disease dynamics
  • epidemiological modeling
  • outbreak forecasting and control
  • human behavior
  • virus–host–vector interactions

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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