This book summarizes current advances in our understanding of how infectious disease represents an ecological interaction between a pathogenic microorganism and the host species in which that microbe causes illness.

The contributing authors explain that pathogenic microorganisms often also have broader ecological connections, which can include a natural environmental presence; possible transmission by vehicles such as air, water, and food; and interactions with other host species, including vectors for which the microbe either may or may not be pathogenic.

This field of science has been dubbed disease ecology, and the chapters that examine it have been grouped into three sections. The first section introduces both the role of biological community interactions and the impact of biodiversity on infectious disease. In turn, the second section considers those diseases directly affecting humans, with a focus on waterborne and foodborne illnesses, while also examining the critical aspect of microbial biofilms. Lastly, the third section presents the ecology of infectious diseases from the perspective of their impact on mammalian livestock and wildlife as well as on humans.

Given its breadth of coverage, the volume offers a valuable resource for microbial ecologists and biomedical scientists alike.

Autorentext
Christon J. Hurst Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 

and 

Universidad del Valle, Santiago de Cali, Valle, Colombia

Inhalt
Part I: Introduction to Disease Ecology  

Chapter 1: Interkingdom Community Interactions in Disease Ecology

Authors: M. Eric Benbow, Jennifer L. Pechal, Jeffery K. Tomberlin, and Heather R. Jordan  

Chapter 2: Biodiversity and Disease Transmission

Author: Serge Morand

Part II: The Ecology of Infectious Diseases Affecting Humans

Chapter 3: Understanding and Estimating the Risk of Waterborne Infectious Disease Associated with Drinking Water

Author: Christon J. Hurst

Chapter 4: The Ecology of Bacterial Agents of Foodborne Illness

        Authors: Alexander Gill and John W. Austin

Chapter 5: Impact of Mycobacterial Biofilms on Public Health

Author: Anil K. Ojha

Part III: The Ecology of Infectious Diseases Affecting Livestock and Wildlife

Chapter 6: Opportunistic Bacteria Associated with Mammalian Livestock Disease

Author: Christon J. Hurst

Chapter 7: Infectious Disease in Wild Animal Populations: examining transmission and control with mathematical models

Authors: Sergey S. Berg, James D. Forester, and Meggan E. Craft

Chapter 8: The Ecology of Pathogen Spillover and Disease Emergence at the Human Wildlife Environment Interface

Authors: Kathleen A. Alexander, Colin J. Carlson, Bryan L. Lewis, Wayne M. Getz, Madhav V. Marathe, Stephen G. Eubank, Claire E. Sanderson, and Jason K. Blackburn

Chapter 9: Integrating Landscape Hierarchies in the Discovery and Modeling of Ecological Drivers of Zoonotically Transmitted Disease from Wildlife

Authors: Douglas G. Goodin, Colleen B. Jonsson, Linda J. S. Allen, and Robert D. Owen