Call for Papers – Special Issue: Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Disease Outbreaks in North Africa

2026-10-02

The Journal of Medical Sciences (JOMS) invites submissions to its special issue Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Disease Outbreaks in North Africa: Virological, Mycological, and Bacteriological Perspectives (Volume 21, Issue 3, 2026).

Outbreak data from North Africa remain thin in the international literature compared with other regions, even as the region faces climatic transition, cross-border population movement and developing surveillance capacity. This special issue provides a dedicated venue for rigorous, region-specific research on viral, fungal and bacterial threats with a demonstrated epidemiological or clinical link to North Africa.

Key dates and terms
  • Submissions open: 1 October 2026
  • Submission deadline: 25 December 2026
  • Peer review: fast-track double-blind review, with a final decision within 21 days of submission
  • Publication: online with a Crossref DOI within 3 days of acceptance
  • Fees: none. No submission, processing or publication charges
  • Licence: open access under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; authors retain copyright

Early submission is encouraged. Manuscripts submitted by 10 December 2026 are expected to receive a final decision by 31 December 2026 and appear in Volume 21, Issue 3 (2026).

Topics include, but are not limited to
  • Hantavirus and other rodent-borne viral infections
  • Filovirus disease preparedness and cross-continental outbreak risk
  • Emerging respiratory viral pathogens and zoonotic spillover
  • Antimicrobial-resistant bacterial outbreaks (MDR/XDR organisms)
  • Invasive and opportunistic fungal infections with rising incidence
  • Vector-borne and climate-sensitive infectious diseases
  • Molecular epidemiology and genomic surveillance of outbreak pathogens
  • One Health approaches to outbreak detection and response
  • Public health preparedness, diagnostic capacity and gaps in North African settings
  • Case reports and case series of novel or unusual regional outbreaks
Article types

Original Research Articles; Review Articles (systematic, scoping and narrative); Short Communications; Case Reports and case series.

Editorial team

Guest Editors: Prof. Israa M. S. Al-Kadmy (Mustansiriyah University, Iraq); Prof. Dr. Manal Hadi Ghaffoori Kanaan (Middle Technical University, Iraq); Prof. Khaled Ibrahim (Libyan Biotechnology Research Center, Libya); Dr. Fatimah Alqdeeri (Sabratha University, Libya); Dr. Nadia Sifennasr (University of Tripoli, Libya); Dr. Fawzia Shawesh (University of Zawia, Libya); Dr. Abdelhakam Hassan Ibrahim Ali (University of Al-Butana, Sudan).
Handling Editor: Dr. Elloulu Ben-Darif (University of Tripoli, Libya).
Managing Editor (Special Issue): Dr. Shamsi Saad Shamsi (Sebha University, Libya).

How to submit
  1. Prepare your manuscript according to the Author Guidelines.
  2. Submit through the online submission system.
  3. On the submission form, select the section "Special Issue: Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Disease Outbreaks in North Africa".
  4. State in your cover letter that the manuscript is submitted to this special issue.

Read the full call for papers »

Enquiries: Dr. Shamsi Saad Shamsi, Managing Editor (Special Issue), [email protected]