Infectious Diseases and Arthropods

Emerging infectious diseases continue to increase both in incidence and geographic distribution worldwide. Many of these diseases are vector-borne, including malaria (re-emerging), West Nile virus, Lyme disease, American boutonneuse fever (a new rickettsial disease), and others. For example, Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease, recently caused over 150,000 cases on one small island in the Indian Ocean. Many scientists fear that Chikungunya will soon spread to the New World in a manner similar to WNV. This book will be a succinct reference for the very important interface between infectious diseases and medical entomology.

Jerome Goddard summarizes the latest thinking about the biological, entomological, and clinical aspects of the major vector-borne diseases around the world. The book covers mosquito-, tick-, and flea-borne diseases, and a variety of other miscellaneous vector-borne diseases, including Chagas' disease, African sleeping sickness, onchocerciasis, scrub typhus, and louse-borne infections. The author provides for each disease a description of the vector involved, notes on its biology and ecology, distribution maps, and general clinical guidelines for treatment and control.

This new edition is updated with the latest research findings and current theories about infectious disease and arthropods. Numerous new, high quality line drawings and photographs of offending arthropods and the lesions they cause are also included. At a time when vector-borne diseases have increased their spread, Infectious Diseases and Arthropods provides physicians, infectious disease specialists, medical entomologists, and public health officials with an up-to-date, readily accessible, gold-standard reference source.