Zoonotic infections impose a major burden of human disease worldwide, a burden that has further socioeconomic parameters and moreover is increasingly expressed through emergence of novel pathogens, re-emergence of understudied agents of human disease, and outbreaks that possess the potential of becoming epidemics and spreading through international travel and trade to the developed, nonendemic world.Many of these pathogens do not display a classical pathophysiologic interaction with humans upon settling infection. Varying virulence mechanisms and factors, different pathways of evading or modifying host immunity, a particular predisposition for chronicity in many of the important zoonoses, phenomena of molecular mimicry that may possess major clinical significance are just few of the peculiar faces of zoonotic immunology.

Understanding the immunology of zoonotic infections allows for proper preventive and therapeutic targeting. Proper targeting includes the development of vaccines for certain zoonoses, the evaluation of adequate preventive approaches for individuals visiting/residing in endemic areas, the understanding of the therapeutic mechanisms induced by proper treatment regimens, and the understanding (and inhibition) of the pathways to chronicity for certain of the zoonotic infections.

We invite authors to submit original research and review articles that focus on or illuminate aspects of the immunology of zoonotic infections, including both virulence-related and host response-related issues.

We are particularly interested in topics that, further from theoretical/basic science value, have a potential clinical utility. The proposed topics should focus on zoonotic infections of significance. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Bartonelloses
• Borrelioses
• Brucellosis
• Echinococcosis
• Food-borne zoonoses
• Hemorrhagic fevers
• Leishmaniasis
• Leptospirosis
• Rabies and lyssaviruses
• Rickettsioses
• Trypanosomiasis
• Tularemia

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jir/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: