Zoonoses and Communicable Diseases Common to Man and Animals. By P. N. Acha and B. Szyfres. Vol. 1. Bacterioses and Mycoses, pp. 378; Vol. 2. Chlamydioses, Rickettsioses and Viroses, pp. 408; Vol. 3. Parasitoses, pp. 395. 3rd Edition. Pan American Health Organisation, Washington, DC, 2003. ISBN 92 75 11991 0. US$ 36.00 for each volume (Orders may be placed at http://publications.paho.org/english/index.cfm).

Extract

This highly topical book offers information on two groups of communicable diseases: the first being zoonoses, with animals playing an essential role in maintaining the infection in nature and man is only an accidental host. The second group comprises the diseases common to man and animals, where they generally contract the infection from the same source, and the animals may contribute in particular to the distribution and actual transmission of infections.

Ecological and social changes, along with the migration of large numbers of people between continents, have caused the spread of once endemic diseases, which can now pose a threat in distant communities. The risk of bio-terrorism has highlighted the need for detailed knowledge of those diseases in terms of their epidemiology, mechanisms of transmission to humans, diagnosis and control.

In each volume, the groups of communicable diseases are listed in alphabetical order, which makes it easy to use. The great asset of this publication is that a number of pages devoted to each disease follows its incidence rate and pathogenicity for humans and animals. Less serious infections are listed briefly while those possessing serious threat are described in great detail. Each chapter is followed by the list of most important references, though some of them are not the most up-to date.

What also makes it easy to use for a reader is the listing of the synonyms for each disease, and chapters divided into paragraphs with headings such as etiology, geographic distribution, occurrence in man and animals, symptoms, sources of infections and mode of transmission, and the role of animals in its epidemiology, diagnosis and control. However, the tables, figures and photographs are included unevenly in the volumes. The transmission cycles are mostly presented in the second volume, while in the third one regarding Parasitoses they are completely missing. And it is in particular in Parasitoses, where the life-cycles are often quite complicated and for a better understanding of the mode of transmission, such illustrations would be very suitable.

What might be rather confusing are a few listed synonyms, which in several cases are somewhat contradictory in terms of their suffixes – osis (-iosis) and -iasis, even if the agents have the same generic suffix – e.g. Balantidiasis versus Balantidiosis (Balantidium coli,) and Cryptosporidiosis (Cryptosporidium spp.).

In conclusion, the publication, primarily targeted at academics and students in schools of public health, medicine and veterinary medicine, researchers as well as the staff of public health and veterinary health institutions, provides an attractive read – not just for everyone who must or wants to be familiar with the subject, but also for all seeking a broad overview in the world of known and emerging zoonoses.