About this Research Topic
Emerging infectious diseases are defined as contagious diseases caused by emerging pathogens by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some of them are completely novel, such as COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. This group also includes diseases that are reappearing or are completely new to an area, like the chikungunya or dengue fever in Florida.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) classifies the Emerging Infectious Diseases/Pathogens into 3 categories (A, B, and C) based on mortality, dissemination, and public health risk. Category A mainly includes the viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) induced by Arenaviridae (Lassa fever), Bunyaviridae (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rift Valley Fever, Hantaan hemorrhagic fevers), Filoviridae (Ebola, Marburg), and Flaviviridae (dengue). Category B mainly includes vector-borne viruses like West Nile virus, Yellow fever virus, Chikungunya virus, and Zika virus. Category C mainly includes Nipah, Hendra, Influenza, SARS, MERS, and other related coronaviruses in animals.
Emerging infectious diseases can be transmitted between humans and animals and between countries. Early detection is crucial to control or even eradicate them. Viral genomic information is important not only to track the virus source and evaluate the outbreak risk but also to help design effective vaccines. The current COVID-19 pandemic is a relevant example that supports this idea. Nowadays, more and more SARS-CoV-2 variants are emerging as a new threat to the public.
This Research Topic will be limited to the above-mentioned viruses due to the size of these families. Studies addressing genomic features of viruses through computational bioinformatics, virus recombination detection, phylogenetic analyses, evolutionary rate estimation, in vivo/in vitro studies, as some examples, are welcome. This Topic Editors would like to receive Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Brief Case Reports.
Keywords: Genomic Evolution, Detection, Viruses, Zoonotic Diseases, Infectious Disesases
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
