Welcome to Infectious Disease Reports: a message from the Editor

Welcome to the new online-only, international, Open Access, peer-reviewed journal, Infectious Disease Reports (IDR). It is a profound honor to lead this new journal, and I would like to share with you my vision for IDR and take this opportunity to encourage you to submit your work for peer review. It is a great challenge to define the scope of a new infectious disease journal given the wide breadth of our rapidly-evolving field. Infectious diseases present both ongoing and emerging threats to human health. In addition to the “usual offenders” that reap havoc on global human populations (e.g., malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS), we regularly find ourselves challenged by unexpected and emerging infectious disease threats. Recent examples include epidemics/pandemics (e.g., H1N1 influenza, Ebola virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS]); large-scale outbreaks (e.g., Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, Norovirus, other food-borne infections); antimicrobial and antiviral resistance (e.g., extremely drugresistant tuberculosis [XDR-TB], extendedspectrum beta lactamases, antiviral-resistant HIV); and the transcontinental migration/ importation of infectious agents (e.g., monkeypox, West Nile virus, tuberculosis). In this light, the scope of IDR must be broad, to capture and address the rapidly-shifting global challenges faced by the ID community. The editorial staff at IDR are committed to insuring that manuscripts published here are novel and meet the needs of a diverse audience. Because our field of infectious diseases includes longstanding problems and emerging threats, IDR seeks to publish manuscripts including: • expert reviews (both invited and unsolicited) that identify current gaps in our knowledge • original investigations (including basic science, translational and clinical research) • case series and case reports, which are often the heralds of emerging ID threats. In addition, IDR encourages the submission of manuscripts that include the use of novel research tools or address our field from a multidisciplinary perspective. Examples of innovative areas that could be targeted for reviews or original manuscripts include studies of human microbial ecology or the use of systems biology, nanotechnology, and metagenomics to address problems in infectious diseases. I envision manuscripts in IDR addressing the following areas (in no particular order): • international health/pandemics • microbial pathogenesis and host immu nol ogy • virology • bacteriology • mycology • parasitology • vaccinology • epidemiology • diagnostics (including novel, rapid, and field-based methods) • treatment.