834 THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vo/. 124. No. 4. December 2012 
veterinarian specializing in agricultural animals Impact) continued the same format using research 
and wildlife, understanding diseases and how they to help the reader understand various disease jm- 
tmpact an animal's health is of utmost impor¬ 
tance. Moreover, emerging diseases are a constant 
struggle to keep up with and understand. Most 
disease texts are geared toward domestic animals 
with few ‘exotic’ texts available. When one exists, 
the diseases mentioned are often limited to the 
most common conditions with little known or 
written on new and emerging diseases. Having a 
guide on emerging avian diseases is an important 
addition to the literature due especially to the 
global impact of these diseases. 
This book begins with a Forward by Robert G. 
McLean which sets the tone of the importance of 
the text and gives an overview and breakdown of 
what to expect. However, as a reader, the title led 
me to believe the text was going to be more 
descriptive in nature as many books on diseases 
are constructed. This book is arranged by sections 
that seemingly flow from transmission to popula¬ 
tion impact to more specific monitoring, detec¬ 
tion, and research practices. As I started to read 
each section. I quickly realized this book is more 
than a descriptive etiology, pathophysiology, 
diagnosis, and treatment disease text book. Paul 
took a unique perspective on the classic disease 
text and used current research as examples to 
explain each section heading. 
By focusing on a few diseases and using current 
research. Paul compiled literature to help show the 
reader how these diseases etnerged and the impact 
they had on a given population. Pan I (Environ¬ 
mental and Behavioral Aspects of Transmission) 
consisted of a series of research projects to help 
readers understand disease dynamics within a 
population and movement-emergence in different 
habitats and locations, and among individuals 
within a population. Part II (Population-level 
pacts on a given population. 
Part III (Monitoring, Detection, and Research 
Practices) was much different than I had antici¬ 
pated. I expected several chapters on different 
sampling and laboratory diagnostic tests. Instead. 
I found a series of compelling articles that ranged 
from theory and disease transmission modeling, 
understanding immune function, and a description 
of zoonotic diseases. 
The final chapter. Zoonotic Diseases, found a 
way to tie etiology, pathophysiology, etc., in a 
new and interesting W'ay. By taking the approach 
to give personnel in the Field knowledge to protect 
themselves from zoonoses, this chapter allows the 
reader to empower themselves with the know¬ 
ledge ot disease transmission and symptoms to 
enable them to identify conditions where these 
diseases can arise. Avian Influenza and West Nile 
were highlighted and followed by a section on 
other zoonoses. The final summary gave practical 
precautions when dealing with all pathogens one 
may encounter. 
While this text did not meet my initial expecta¬ 
tions, I found the style to be a refreshing way to 
present information. There are times when using 
concrete examples help to emphasize a particular 
point better than descriptive narratives. In this book. 
I learned about diseases and the impact they have 
on species and populations in a new and novel 
way. I particularly liked the last chapter where it 
seemed to empower individuals to protect them¬ 
selves with knowledge on these diseases.—JACOB 
R. WERNER. Attending Veterinarian for Agri¬ 
cultural Animals and Wildlife, Pennsylvania 
State University, 101 Centralized Biological 
Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, USA; 
e-mail: jrwl40@psu.edu 
