Dear Colleagues,

Viruses recurrently are responsible for gastrointestinal illnesses in dogs and cats that range from mild diarrhea to severe disease, and enteritis represents the main cause of death of young pets and a public health problem all over the world. Parvoviruses, coronaviruses, and retroviruses are the most important viral causes, but other viruses, such as adenoviruses, rotaviruses, reoviruses, caliciviruses, and paramyxoviruses also play an important role. Undoubtedly, new potential agents of gastrointestinal diseases may be discovered and, nowadays, noroviruses, sapoviruses, astroviruses, and kobuviruses have been associated with enteric disease in pets, and more recently, a dog circovirus was detected in dogs with vasculitis and/or hemorrhagic diarrhea in the US. Recombinant viruses might also arise and cause new unexpected diseases and/or zoonosis, as already reported for feline and canine rotaviruses that have combined with human rotaviruses generating new, reassortant, zoonotic viruses, as well as some companion animal rotaviruses can infect humans directly. 

Epidemiological studies are necessary to understand the impact of newly discovered pathogens, and to obtain information on the genetic diversity of viruses. These data represent the starting point for the development of specific diagnostic tools aimed to know and understand evolution of feline and canine viruses. This approach could also have implications for the promulgation of prophylaxis measures in animal environment, as dogs and cats become infected with many pathogens and represent an important crossing point for humans generating new threats for human health. 

In this Special Issue, we aim to consolidate basic and applied studies of viral enteritis of dogs and cats related to immunopathological and etiological aspects, to phylogenetic analyses, to new technologies for the diagnosis and to prophylaxis measures for preventing and counteracting infections. We therefore encourage you to submit original and review articles covering all important aspects of this topic with unique one-health and eco-health perspectives.

Prof. Dr. Annamaria Pratelli
Prof. Dr. Maria Tempesta
Guest Editors

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• dog
• cat
• enteritis
• virus
• evolution