North American Parasitic Zoonoses

North American Parasitic Zoonoses provides a concise and useful review of essential information about parasitic zoonotic diseases. North American Parasitic Zoonoses, volume six of "World Class Parasites", is written for researchers, students, veterinarians, physicians and scholars who enjoy reading research that has a major impact on human health, or agricultural productivity, and against which we have no satisfactory defense. It is intended to supplement more formal texts that cover taxonomy, life cycles, morphology, vector distribution, symptoms and treatment. It integrates vector, pathogen and host biology and celebrates the diversity of approach that comprises modern parasitological research.

3 vols also available separately. Contents: Vol. 1 Bacterioses and mycoses (2001, ISBN 927511580X); Vol. 2 Chlamydioses, rickettsioses and viroses (2003, ISBN 927519929); Vol. 3 Parasitoses (2003, ISBN 9275919928)

Zoonotic diseases represent one of the leading causes of illness and death from infectious disease. Defined by the World Health Organization, zoonoses are "those diseases and infections that are naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and man with or without an arthropod intermediate." Worldwide, zoonotic diseases have a negative impact on commerce, travel, and economies. In most developing countries, zoonotic diseases are among those diseases that contribute significantly to an already overly burdened public health system. In industrialized nations, zoonotic diseases are of particular concern for at-risk groups such as the elderly, children, childbearing women, and immunocompromised individuals. The Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases: Understanding the Impact on Animal and Human Health, covers a range of topics, which include: an evaluation of the relative importance of zoonotic diseases against the overall backdrop of emerging infections; research findings related to the current state of our understanding of zoonotic diseases; surveillance and response strategies to detect, prevent, and mitigate the impact of zoonotic diseases on human health; and information about ongoing programs and actions being taken to identify the most important needs in this vital area.

Human Diseases from Wildlife presents information on the most prevalent and serious zoonotic diseases in the US and Canada, some of which have been national headline news like anthrax, influenza, and West Nile virus. Diseases that are caused by pathogens with the ability to infect both humans and animals are known as zoonotic diseases, which literally means "disease from animals." The issue of human–wildlife disease interactions is a growing concern as humans continue to interface with wildlife. People who handle wildlife including field workers, wildlife professionals, trappers, and hunters want to know about potential diseases, risks, and how to protect themselves from disease. This book was written because many people are uninformed about zoonotic diseases. This lack of information causes some people to have a heightened fear of zoonotic diseases, preventing them from enjoying wildlife or spending time outdoors. Other people needlessly expose themselves to disease by neglecting simple precautions. This book includes information on bacterial, spirochetal, rickettsial, and viral diseases as well as macroparasites and emerging zoonotic diseases. More than two dozen diseases are covered including rabies, tularemia, baylisascariasis, salmonellosis, leprosy, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and swimmer’s itch. Each chapter contains the history of the disease, symptoms in humans, medical treatment, transmission of pathogens to humans, the role of wildlife as vectors, and methods to minimize risk. The diseases people can contract from wild animals can be both threatening and fascinating, and the book includes interesting information to make it more enjoyable to read.

Human Ecology and Infectious Diseases investigates the interrelationships among human behavior, ecology, and infectious diseases, with emphasis on parasitic and zoonotic diseases. The cultural, behavioral, anthropological, and social factors in the transmission of infectious diseases are discussed, along with methods used to make human ecology a more quantitative predictive science in the global challenge of such diseases. Behavioral patterns that place humans at risk to infections and the nature of risk factors are also analyzed. Comprised of 13 chapters, this book begins with an overview of some of the research into those aspects of human behavior that determine risk of helminth infection. The discussion then turns to studies on hookworm and includes an analysis of human behavior and religions that affect transmission of the parasitoses. Human behavior and transmission of zoonotic diseases in North America and Malaysia are documented as are the habits, customs, and superstitions associated with the epidemic of intestinal capillariasis that occurred in the Philippines. Filarial diseases in Southeast Asia are also reviewed, along with the changing patterns of parasitic infections and the cooperation of government and the private sector to lower infection rates in Japan. Cases from Nigeria and Brazil are considered as well. The volume concludes with an assessment of the importance of behavioral and socialcultural factors in determining regional and national patterns in disease incidence and transmission. This monograph should be valuable to students of tropical diseases and public health and to physicians, epidemiologists, anthropologists, veterinarians, and parasitologists.

In spite of the availability of modern broad-spectrum anthelmintic drugs, the prevention and control of helminth zoonoses remain a challenge to human and veterinary parasitologists and to physicians and veterina rians working on the field. Although the life cycles of most helminths of zoonotic importance are well known, there are still major gaps in our knowledge especially in the fields of epidemiology, diagnosis and treat ment The International Colloquium on Helminth Zoonoses held at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, 11-12 December 1986, laid emphasis on more recent advances made in the control and epidemiology of these zoonotic diseases. The disease complexes echinococcosis/hydatidosis, taeniasis/cysticercosis and the larva migrans-syndrome were dealth with in considerable detail. In the first chapter the phenomenon of strain variation in Echinococcus spp. is examined in the light of newer findings. The progress made in recent years towards a more specific diagnosis and drug targeting in hydatidosis is reported. In the second chapter recent advances in immunisation and treatment of cysticercosis are dealt with. The possibili ty of the existence of strain differences in Taenia saginata is also dis cussed. The third chapter is devoted to trematode zoonoses with particular reference to the situation in South-east Asia, Senegal (schistosomiasis) and Liberia (paragonimiasis). In the last chapter the larva migrans syndrome is treated in detail with special attention to its etiology and and diagnosis. Reports on lesser known nematode zoonoses like mammomono gamosis and oesophagostomiasis are included.

The book “Parasitic Zoonoses” emphasizes a veterinary and public health perspective of zoonotic parasites. This book is suitable for higher undergraduate and graduate students of zoonoses and public health, veterinary parasitology, parasite epidemiology; public health workers; public health veterinarians; field veterinarians, medical professionals and all others interested in the subject. More than 15 protozoa and 50 other parasitic diseases are zoonotic in nature and all these diseases have been discussed in detail. The first chapter is concerned with classification of zoonotic parasites, food borne, vector borne and occupation related zoonotic parasites. The remaining chapters cover etiology, epidemiology, life cycle, transmission, clinical signs, diagnosis, prevention and control of zoonotic parasites. The text is illustrated with a large number of coloured figures. An alphabetical bibliography for every disease has also been included so that readers have access to further information.

This book presents the state of art in the field of microbial zoonoses and sapronoses. It could be used as a textbook or manual in microbiology and medical zoology for students of human and veterinary medicine, including Ph.D. students, and for biomedicine scientists and medical practitioners and specialists as well. Surprisingly, severe zoonoses and sapronoses still appear that are either entirely new (e.g., SARS), newly recognized (Lyme borreliosis), resurging (West Nile fever in Europe), increasing in incidence (campylobacterosis), spatially expanding (West Nile fever in the Americas), with a changing range of hosts and/or vectors, with changing clinical manifestations or acquiring antibiotic resistance. The collective term for those diseases is (re)emerging infections, and most of them represent zoonoses and sapronoses (the rest are anthroponoses). The number of known zoonotic and sapronotic pathogens of humans is continually growing − over 800 today. In the introductory part, short characteristics are given of infectious and epidemic process, including the role of environmental factors, possibilities of their epidemiological surveillance, and control. Much emphasis is laid on ecological aspects of these diseases (haematophagous vectors and their life history; vertebrate hosts of zoonoses; habitats of the agents and their geographic distribution; natural focality of diseases). Particular zoonoses and sapronoses are then characterized in the following brief paragraphs: source of human infection; animal disease; transmission mode; human disease; epidemiology; diagnostics; therapy; geographic distribution.