Dear Colleagues,

Background: Respiratory diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in poultry and other avian species. As a consequence, respiratory diseases cause significant economic losses to the global poultry industry, which can be exacerbated when combined with suboptimal environmental or management conditions. Under commercial conditions, clinical symptoms and diagnosis can be complicated by co-infections with other viral or bacterial agents.  In addition, respiratory agents such as avian influenza have significant zoonotic potential.

Goal: Basic and applied research on the microbiology, molecular biology, pathogenesis, and the host responses to bacterial, viral, and fungal respiratory pathogens of poultry and birds is needed in order to better understand the etiology and control of avian respiratory disease.

Scope: This Special issue will highlight respiratory infections of poultry and birds. Studies on all classes of respiratory infectious agents are encouraged. Of particular interest are interactions between multiple pathogens and their contributions to respiratory pathology. Authors are also encouraged to submit articles related not only to the pathogen but also the host’s responses to infection (including innate and adaptive immune responses) and the involvement of the host microbiota. Articles related to the diagnosis and control of avian respiratory pathogens are also encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Calvin L. Keeler
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.

• respiratory disease
• virus
• poultry
• bird
• bacteria
• fungus
• microbiota
• pathogenesis
• host response
• immunology
• diagnostics
• vaccine
• therapeutics