- Email: [email protected]
Agents transmissible from simians to man
86
Soulsby's exemplary Helminths Arthropods and Protozoa of Domesticated Animals and found lacking, at least by this reviewer.
R.E. PURNELL
Pfizer Ltd. Sandwich CT13 9NJ Gt. Britain
AGENTS TRANSMISSIBLE FROM SIMIANS TO MAN
Agents Transmissible from Simians to Man. Manfred Brack. Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg/New Y o r k / L o n d o n / P a r i s / T o k y o , 1987, 454 pp., DM. 198, ISBN: 3-540-17559-8 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York) and ISBN: 0-387-17559-8 (Springer-Verlag, New York/Berlin/ Heidelberg) As the author states in the Preface, the purpose of the book is to bring together in one place information on infectious agents which may be transmitted between man and n o n - h u m a n primates. Previously, such information was widely disseminated among many scientific disciplines, e.g. microbiology, pathology, parasitology, primatology, laboratory animal medicine, epidemiology, and h u m a n and veterinary medicine. The author has succeeded in producing an excellent compilation of primate zoonoses. The book consists of nine chapters devoted to essentially all classes of infectious agents transmissible between man and non-human primates except external parasites. For each major organism or group of organisms, well-documented descriptions of the agent, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical signs in both primates and humans, isolation techniques, treatment and prevention are presented. Descriptions of the agent, pathogenesis and symptomatology are very detailed, but treatments and, to a greater extent, prevention are less well developed. The text's value is enhanced by 78 figures and 41 tables. Organisms that may have only rarely been isolated from n o n - h u m a n primates or are only suspected of being primate zoonoses are also covered. This comprehensive detail makes the book an excellent reference. However, it will be of less value to someone needing an introduction to the field. For example, there are no overview chapters on primate biology or on the epidemiology and prevention of primate zoonoses. In fact, except for a half-page preface, the book consists entirely of descriptions of specific agents. The book is marred by numerous typographical and punctuation errors, especially in the first hundred pages. Discrepancies between reference citations in the text and the reference list at the end of each section were occasionally found. There was no consistency in decimal place designators with
87
commas and periods used in adjacent paragraphs. Although not detracting from the technical merit of the book, taken together these problems present a major distraction for the reader. ROBERT TECLAW
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology School of Veterinary Medicine Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 4 7907 U.S.A.
Soulsby's exemplary Helminths Arthropods and Protozoa of Domesticated Animals and found lacking, at least by this reviewer.
R.E. PURNELL
Pfizer Ltd. Sandwich CT13 9NJ Gt. Britain
AGENTS TRANSMISSIBLE FROM SIMIANS TO MAN
Agents Transmissible from Simians to Man. Manfred Brack. Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg/New Y o r k / L o n d o n / P a r i s / T o k y o , 1987, 454 pp., DM. 198, ISBN: 3-540-17559-8 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York) and ISBN: 0-387-17559-8 (Springer-Verlag, New York/Berlin/ Heidelberg) As the author states in the Preface, the purpose of the book is to bring together in one place information on infectious agents which may be transmitted between man and n o n - h u m a n primates. Previously, such information was widely disseminated among many scientific disciplines, e.g. microbiology, pathology, parasitology, primatology, laboratory animal medicine, epidemiology, and h u m a n and veterinary medicine. The author has succeeded in producing an excellent compilation of primate zoonoses. The book consists of nine chapters devoted to essentially all classes of infectious agents transmissible between man and non-human primates except external parasites. For each major organism or group of organisms, well-documented descriptions of the agent, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical signs in both primates and humans, isolation techniques, treatment and prevention are presented. Descriptions of the agent, pathogenesis and symptomatology are very detailed, but treatments and, to a greater extent, prevention are less well developed. The text's value is enhanced by 78 figures and 41 tables. Organisms that may have only rarely been isolated from n o n - h u m a n primates or are only suspected of being primate zoonoses are also covered. This comprehensive detail makes the book an excellent reference. However, it will be of less value to someone needing an introduction to the field. For example, there are no overview chapters on primate biology or on the epidemiology and prevention of primate zoonoses. In fact, except for a half-page preface, the book consists entirely of descriptions of specific agents. The book is marred by numerous typographical and punctuation errors, especially in the first hundred pages. Discrepancies between reference citations in the text and the reference list at the end of each section were occasionally found. There was no consistency in decimal place designators with
87
commas and periods used in adjacent paragraphs. Although not detracting from the technical merit of the book, taken together these problems present a major distraction for the reader. ROBERT TECLAW
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology School of Veterinary Medicine Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 4 7907 U.S.A.