The commensal and opportunistic capabilities of bacteria enable them to colonize different sites in animals and humans. The development of novel strains and the emergence of previous strains occurs from time to time. It is important to find novel genes in addition to genetic shifts in antimicrobial resistance genes to set a roadmap for the development of effective therapeutics. Alternative approaches to tackle drug-resistant bacteria utilize nanoparticles, bacteriophages, phytochemicals, organic acids, prebiotics, probiotics, or other microorganisms, however, more are urgently required. Other alternatives include the development of vaccines, modifications in vaccines, immune modulators, and computational approaches. Combinational therapies to reduce the burden and to enhance the potential of antibiotics have become another important aspect in dealing with bacterial pathogens.

There are stringent factors that aggravate the situation of drug resistance, including uncalculated use of drugs in the form of self-prescription, over or underdosage, and extra or off-label use of different antibiotics. The prevalence of drug resistance is even worse in the healthcare infrastructures of resource-limited low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC). Taken together, the emergence of super bug bacteria has limited the options for treatment, as patients no longer respond to previously effective anti-microbials. In addition, resistance to antibiotics has resulted in the development of new strains of bacteria and new types within strains. For instance, types of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) include hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA), community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA), and livestock-acquired MRSA (LA-MRSA). There are also emerging strains like vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) and vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA). There are other bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Mycobacterium that are responsible for a wide range of infections in humans and animals, and when inter-species transfer occurs this makes bacterial pathogens more severe. Adding to this are re-emerging bacterial infections, leading to extremely drug resistant forms. An expansion in resistance is expected to give rise to newer strains resistant to antibiotics such as macrolides (erm gene), tetracycline (tet genes), mupirocin (mupR), and fusidic acid (fusD). It is necessary to comprehensively combine conventional and non-conventional methods to tackle the emergence and re-emergence of bacterial strains.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect papers investigating emerging and re-emerging bacterial diseases, novel bacterial drug resistance genes, bacterial infections, alternative approaches to mitigate resistance, risk factor assessments associated with increased resistance and mitigation strategies, and policies and plans at stakeholder levels and policy makers. We welcome both original research and review articles.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Identification of novel drug resistance genes
• Investigation of modifications in existing drug resistance genes
• Green alternatives to combat drug resistant bacteria
• Chemical alternatives to mitigate drug resistant bacteria
• Nanotechnological approaches in mitigating drug resistance
• Contemporary options for controlling drug resistant bacteria
• Novel or modified vaccine approaches
• Identification of drug resistant bacteria of zoonotic potential
• Synergistic allies of antibiotics to reduce the use of antibiotics with enhanced antibacterial potential
• Probiotic and prebiotic approaches to prevent antimicrobial resistance
• Phage therapy as an alternative for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
• The use of CRIPSR-Cas9 to control antibiotic-resistant bacteria
• Disinfectant resistance