Human Diseases from Wildlife. Michael R.Conover and Rosanna M.Vail, editors. 2015. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. 527 pp. $89.95 hardcover. ISBN 978‐1‐4665‐6214‐1.

Zoonoses represent nearly 60% of all human diseases, including the majority of emerging infectious diseases. Many of these have had a profound effect on human and wildlife populations for centuries and remain a major source of illness and mortality, sickening hundreds of millions of people globally each year. Although impacts of zoonoses are often most severe in developing countries, as highlighted throughout Human Diseases from Wildlife, many of these diseases remain prevalent in the United States and other developed countries. Despite their prevalence and potential to cause severe health effects in humans, wildlife, and livestock, many people are uninformed about zoonotic diseases, including some in the wildlife profession and outdoor enthusiasts who are often at increased risk of exposure. This book is an important text that fills a void by providing an overview of more than 70 zoonoses for which wildlife or livestock play an important role as reservoirs or vectors of the pathogens. Much of the book's focus is on prevalent and serious zoonoses in the United States and Canada, although most chapters provide information and examples of the influences of these diseases globally where the impact to human health and survival are often more severe. Throughout the book, the authors have incorporated numerous references to support their statements, but the text is easy to read and not laden with scientific and medical jargon, which should broaden the potential audience served. The authors also have taken the time to integrate interesting historical facts and sidebar examples of outbreaks or case studies, some of which readers will be familiar with because of national and international press coverage or the magnitude of historical events. The inclusion of this information improves the readability and provides tangible examples that readers will find interesting and informative. Excluding a brief introduction, Human Diseases from Wildlife is broken into 29 chapters, each covering a single disease or group of related diseases, which are neatly organized into 7 sections—bacterial, spirochetal, rickettsial, viral, fungal, prions, and parasites. Few pages of the book are devoted to a general overview of zoonoses or their management; for such information readers should refer to additional sources. As a result, the book is written more as a reference text where readers can easily find general information on specific diseases. This is facilitated by the consistent structuring of individual chapters, each beginning with a brief introduction and history of the disease followed by symptoms in humans, infections in animals, how humans contract the disease, medical treatment, what people can do to reduce their risks of exposure, and eradication possibility. Section 1 covers bacterial diseases and includes 11 chapters. The authors devote more than a third of the book to this section, which is a reflection of the number of bacterial zoonoses and their importance to both historical and contemporary human societies globally. This section starts off with a chapter on plague (Chapter 2), which fittingly, has had one of the most substantive impacts on humans of any disease in history. Readers will be familiar with many of the other diseases highlighted in this section, which includes chapters on several that historically or currently have a profound impact on human health such as tuberculosis (Chapter 4), salmonellosis (Chapter 9), and Escherichia coli (Chapter 10). Although their impact on humans may not be quite as widespread, the remaining chapters in this section represent an important compilation of zoonoses that will undoubtedly be of interest to many readers including brucellosis (Chapter 3), tularemia (Chapter 5), leprosy (Chapter 6), anthrax (Chapter 7), rat-bite fever (Chapter 8), and psittacosis (Chapter 11). Section 2 includes 3 chapters focused on spirochetal diseases, including leptospirosis (Chapter 12), which has the most widespread distribution of any zoonosis. Given its increased prevalence in recent decades, many readers also may be interested in the chapter on Lyme disease (Chapter 13), although Chapter 14 provides an interesting overview of a similar tick-borne pathogen, tick-borne relapsing fever, that is a less prevalent but nonetheless important disease in humans. Section 3 is focused on rickettsial diseases and encompasses 4 chapters covering a range of important pathogens carried by arthropod vectors that may be less familiar to readers including Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Chapter 15), Q fever (Chapter 16), epidemic and Murine typhus (Chapter 17), and ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis (Chapter 18). Viral diseases are the focus of section 4, which includes 6 chapters that cover a broad range of pathogens of global importance. Many of these diseases continue to have substantive impacts on human and wildlife health today including rabies (Chapter 19), West Nile virus (Chapter 21), hantaviruses (Chapter 23), and influenza (Chapter 24); each is discussed at length in the book. Equine encephalitis (Chapter 20) and Colorado tick fever (Chapter 22) also are discussed in this section and, although less prevalent, most readers should find these zoonoses equally interesting. Section 5 focuses on fungal diseases and includes chapters on cryptococcosis (Chapter 25) and histoplasmosis (Chapter 26). Although many readers will likely be unfamiliar with these diseases, both infect millions of people globally, including the United States and other developed countries. Section 6 is brief and includes a single chapter on prions (Chapter 27). This chapter differs slightly from many others in that it primarily focuses on non-zoonotic diseases that infect humans (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease), livestock (mad cow disease, scrapie), or wildlife (chronic wasting disease), although food-born transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans is possible and results in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is discussed in this chapter also. The book concludes with Section 7 on parasites, which includes chapters on baylisascariasis (Chapter 28), trichinellosis (Chapter 29), and swimmer's itch (Chapter 30). Despite the broad scope of this book, individual chapters provide sufficient detail for the average reader to gain a foundational knowledge of each disease, effects and symptoms in humans, and what people can do to reduce exposure risks. Infections in livestock and wildlife also are discussed in individual chapters, providing a good overview of the current state of knowledge in this area, although much of the book is geared towards effects in humans as implied by the title. One of the primary purposes of this book is to inform people about zoonotic diseases, the potential risks of exposure, and what can be done to reduce exposure risk. Although this objective clearly was achieved within individual chapters, the book would benefit from a broader introduction chapter and a concluding chapter that synthesizes information on the real and perceived risks of zoonoses, and the general precautions that can be taken to minimize risks of contracting these diseases, allowing this information to be more readily available to readers. In summary, Human Diseases from Wildlife is an unique compilation of information on >70 zoonoses that is likely to become a common reference text among wildlife students and professionals but also should serve as an important resource for hunters, trappers, and other outdoor enthusiasts who are at increased risk of exposure to zoonotic diseases. I recommend this book for anyone that works with or handles wildlife either recreationally or professionally and those generally interested in expanding their knowledge of zoonotic diseases. —James C. Beasley, University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

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