Rabies, one of humanity's most ancient and feared diseases, has spread rapidly among the canines of South Texas and in raccoons on the eastern seaboard. The United States, with the world's most complex rabies problems, has seemed helpless in the face of this dangerous outbreak, the worst in decades.

In Mad Dogs: The New Rabies Plague, Don Finley chronicles the epidemic, the politics of response to it, and the most ambitious American attempt yet to erect a barrier against the disease -- in Texas. He tells the stories of those who have been plagued by rabies, and those who have accepted the charge to end the plague.

In South Texas, normally timid coyotes have become fearless, challenging ranch dogs twice their size, attacking an infant on her porch swing, and menacing oil field workers. More ominously, they have infected hundreds of pet dogs, resulting in the exposure of some fifteen hundred people in South Texas to the dreaded disease. Three people, including a fourteen-year-old boy, have died, and the leading edge of the plague line is approaching San Antonio, one of the nation's ten largest cities.

Despite the fact that European nations and Canada have nearly eliminated rabies among wild animals, the virus has been able to spread in the United States because the federal government is unique in its stance that rabies is a local health problem. Controversy over who will pay for a federally approved vaccine is ongoing, even as the virus crosses state and national lines.

The struggle to develop an effective oral rabies vaccination program in the United States began three decades ago. Finley describes the professional feuds, often between scientists and public health officials, thathindered the efforts. In 1995, the USDA granted permission to drop an experimental, genetically engineered vaccine over nearly fifteen thousand square miles of South Texas brushlands in an effort to stop the spread of the disease.

Finley's straightforward language, free of either jargon or hysteria, is a welcome approach in describing the disease's destructive effects. His rare inside look into the politics and the science of disease control within public bureaucracies will engross those interested in science and public health issues, pet owners and wildlife enthusiasts, and those fascinated by infectious disease threats.

Diagnose and manage diseases using the newest information and research! Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease - Expert Consult, 6th Edition provides complete, illustrated coverage of both general pathology and the pathology of organ systems of domestic animals. Addressing species from dogs and cats to pigs and cattle - and many more - this reference describes the lesions and pathogeneses of diseases, how cells and tissues respond to injury, and the interplay of host defense mechanisms with microbes and injurious agents. Updates include the latest scientific advances and diagnostic information. Written by a team of expert contributors, this book includes an Expert Consult website with access to the complete digital book plus thousands of images and guidelines for sample acquisition and for performing a complete necropsy. Complete coverage of both general pathology and pathology of organ systems is provided in one convenient resource, and includes the latest information available. Over 20 recognized experts deliver the most relevant information for the practitioner, student, or individual preparing for the American College of Veterinary Pathology board examination. UPDATED content on cellular and organ system pathology includes the latest insights into the science of inflammation, healing, and molecular carcinogenesis, as well as expanded coverage of genetics and disease. Over 2,100 full-color illustrations include color schematics, flow charts, and diagrammatic representations of disease processes as well as summary tables and boxes, making it easier to understand difficult concepts. Clear, up-to-date explanations of disease mechanisms describe cell, tissue, and organ response to injury and infection. Easy-to-follow organization for each systemic disease chapter includes a brief review of basic principles related to anatomy, structure, and function, followed by congenital and functional abnormalities and discussions of infectious disease responses, helping you apply principles to veterinary practice. Expert Consult website provides the reader with the complete digital text plus: An image collection; guidelines for performing a complete, systematic necropsy and appropriate sample acquisition for all organ systems; a comprehensive glossary; and an appendix of photographic techniques in veterinary pathology. NEW line drawings and schematic diagrams depict current concepts about pathogeneses and lesions of veterinary diseases. NEW! Essential Concept boxes in each basic pathology chapter break down long and complicated topics, making it easier to understand lesions and pathogeneses in the 'organ system' chapters. NEW! Key Readings Index at the beginning of each chapter includes page numbers, making important information easy to locate.

Skin Diseases of Cattle in the Tropics: A Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment is a clinical and practical guide to help animal scientists, field veterinarians, veterinary students, and technicians make appropriate and differential diagnoses. It features quizzes of clinical cases, along with multiple images of characteristic lesions and laboratory findings of major skin diseases (and diseases with skin manifestations) that are prevalent in tropical areas, notably the Sub-Saharan African countries. This self-learning and easy-to-use instructional guide, a unique offering in the field of animal science and veterinary medicine, provides essential and foundational information about relevant skin conditions that are followed by illustrated flow charts of laboratory diagnoses and summaries of respective diseases. This title makes the subject accessible for practicing veterinarians and animal scientists, and is particularly useful for those who have neither seen nor had the chance to see these diseases in the field or clinics. Such diseases are important not only in the tropics, but may be encountered in many countries in subtropical and temperate zones.

Abnormalities of cells and tissues, caused by injury, in non-human vertebrate animal species are explained in this textbook. It provides a framework of basic principles of general pathology and adds to this knowledge of molecular pathology in a clear manner for students. This text contains instruction in the interaction of disease processes, as well as information about the ways basic pathologic processes interact during disease. There is emphasis on gross and light microscopic changes, mechanisms responsible for events in disease, and interspecies comparisons. Undergraduate and graduate students in veterinary medicine and biology (especially fish and zoology), and medical pathologists with interests in comparative medicine should benefit from this book.

The major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) is one of the few identified gene systems in domestic animals that is associated with quantitative traits such as disease resistance, immune response, growth, and reproduction. As knowledge of this important system increases, we move closer toward the reality of genetic enhancement of animal welfare and production efficiency. This book represents the current state of knowledge on the Mhc of agriculturally important animals and explores the latest advances in technology. For the first time, the unique findings of recent Mhc research are presented in a single source. The Major Histocompatibility Complex Region of Domestic Animal Species begins with a discussion of the evolution of Mhc. The chapters are then organized with respect to specific species, with a chapter devoted to each. The Mhc of mice and humans are used as a common reference for comparisons between diverse species. The text concludes with a look at future strategies and directions in Mhc research. Comparative immunologists and geneticists, veterinarians, animal breeders, researchers, and university and postgraduate students will all benefit from this detailed look at the evolution, structure, and organization of Mhc.

This text is an essential guide to routinely performed laboratory procedures for urinalysis and hematology. It is designed for the person who is learning to, or actually performing routine Urinalysis and hematology laboratory procedures. It includes the basic information of how to collect, preserve, prepare, and examine specimens. It deals specifically with common findings in urinalysis and hematology and provides a comprehensive set of high quality images for on-the-spot reference. The book includes step-by-step procedures for both manual and automated testing of all blood components and detailed guidelines for microscopic analysis of urine sediment including crystals and casts. Care has been taken to insure that the crystal presentation is high quality in order to ease identification and a very helpful chart of these images is included. This title provides brief, precise, technical guidance for collecting, preserving, preparing and evaluation urine and blood sample in dogs and cats.Published by Teton New Media in the USA and distributed by Manson Publishing outside of North America.

Designed to provide students with a foundation in understanding and interpreting histologic and cytologic preparations, Color Atlas of Veterinary Histology is a practical benchside reference focusing on the normal histology of eight common domestic species. This Third Edition has been revised with new images, information, and updated terminology throughout. Introductory chapters have also been expanded to offer more complete coverage of the basic types of tissues, providing an even more thorough grounding in the principles of histology. For the first time, the more than 900 photomicrographs are available digitally in an interactive atlas on CD, offering images available for download with zoom capability. The new edition of this veterinary-specific histology atlas provides veterinary and veterinary technician students with an essential pictorial resource for interpreting histologic preparations.