From the first detailed clinical description of the disease in the Midwestern United States in 1918, to the isolation of the causative agent, the first of any influenza virus, in 1930to its role in the genesis of the 2009 human pandemic, swine have played a central role in the ecology of influenza. Although not considered the major natural reservoir for influenza A viruses, swine are host to a limited but dynamic assortment of viruses. A number of subtypes of influenza A viruses of human and avian origin, including H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H7, and H9, have been isolated from global swine populations. Most of these isolations have, however, been limited in number and it is only H1 and H3 influenza viruses that are known to have formed stable lineages in swine. In this respect, swine influenza viruses (SIV) are similar to their counterparts in humans where H1 and H3 viruses have also been maintained. The nature of these H1 and H3 viruses differ between the two host populations, however, and, as discussed throughout this book, are even different in swine populations in different geographic regions of the world due to multiple introductions of avian and human influenza viruses.

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Wildlife and the zoonotic pathogens they reservoir are the source of most emerging infectious diseases of humans. AIDS, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, SARS, Monkeypox and the human ehrlichioses are a few examples of the devastating effect achieved by cross-species transmission of viral and bacterial pathogens of wildlife. Many factors contribute to the appearance and spread of a pathogen, including; changes in host/pathogen evolution and interaction, human demographics, behavior and technology, environmental factors, and the availability of health care and a public health infrastructure capable of providing surveillance and interventions aimed at disease prevention and control. Additionally, historical factors and the coalescence of particular circumstances modify the conditions by which pathogens and species have an opportunity to intermix, evolve and spread. This volume provides an overview of zoonotic pathogen emergence with an emphasis on the role of wildlife. The first sections of the book explore the mechanisms by which evolution, biology, pathology, ecology, history, and current context have driven the emergence of different zoonotic agents, the next sections provide specific example of disease emergence linked to wildlife, and the final section offers an overview of current methods directed at the surveillance, prevention and control of zoonotic pathogens at the level of the wildlife host and possible mechanisms to improve these activities. This book will be useful to microbiologists, ecologists, zoologists, entomologists as well as physicians and epidemiologists.

From the first detailed clinical description of the disease in the Midwestern United States in 1918, to the isolation of the causative agent, the first of any influenza virus, in 1930 to its role in the genesis of the 2009 human pandemic, swine have played a central role in the ecology of influenza. Although not considered the major natural reservoir for influenza A viruses, swine are host to a limited but dynamic assortment of viruses. A number of subtypes of influenza A viruses of human and avian origin, including H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H7, and H9, have been isolated from global swine populations. Most of these isolations have, however, been limited in number and it is only H1 and H3 influenza viruses that are known to have formed stable lineages in swine. In this respect, swine influenza viruses (SIV) are similar to their counterparts in humans where H1 and H3 viruses have also been maintained. The nature of these H1 and H3 viruses differ between the two host populations, however, and, as discussed throughout this book, are even different in swine populations in different geographic regions of the world due to multiple introductions of avian and human influenza viruses.