The heart of this volume is exploring the links between human disease spread and the broad Silk Road trading networks which connect Eurasian civilizations past and today. Compiled by an international team of subject authors, this book includes two themed parts. Readers are first introduced into history naming, former, present and future routes of the Silk Road, representing the longest trade way and culture diffuser in the world. The second part contains the main book focus and addresses medical research as well as individual diseases and parasite groups from the region in detail. By drawing an arc between the past and present disease situation, the authors trace how parasites and vectors spread around the globe, and what impact infectious diseases had and will have upon human civilizations. Through its interdisciplinary character this book will be enjoyed by interested readers from the fields of parasitology and palaeoparasitology, medical sciences and public health, as well as cultural history.

This book intensively examines the efficacy of plant-derived products that have been used for over a thousand years by practitioners of so-called Traditional Chinese Medicine in the light of recent chemotherapeuticals. The chapters were written by renowned Chinese medical researchers and are supplemented by results obtained in German antiparasitic research projects. Parasites and emerging diseases are a major threat of our time, which is characterized by an enormous increase in the size of the human population and by an unbelievably rapid globalization that has led to the daily transport of millions of humans and containers with goods from one end of the earth to the other. Furthermore the slow but constant global warming offers new opportunities for many agents of diseases to become established in new areas. Therefore it is essential that we develop precautions in order to avoid epidemics or even pandemics in overcrowded megacities or at the large-scale farm animal confinements that are needed to secure a steady flow of food in the crowded regions of the world. Of course intensive research in the field of chemotherapy since 1900 has produced unbelievable breakthroughs in therapies for formerly untreatable and thus deadly diseases. However, a large number of untreatable diseases remain, as well as a constantly growing number of agents of disease that have developed resistances to standard chemical compounds. As such, it is not only worthwhile but also vital to consider the enormous amounts of information that have been obtained by human "high cultures" in the past. Examples from the past (like quinine) or present (like artemisinin, a modern antimalarial drug) show that plant extracts may hold tremendous potential in the fight against parasites and/or against vector-transmitted agents of diseases.

This book intensively examines the efficacy of plant-derived products that have been used for over a thousand years by practitioners of so-called Traditional Chinese Medicine in the light of recent chemotherapeuticals. The chapters were written by renowned Chinese medical researchers and are supplemented by results obtained in German antiparasitic research projects. Parasites and emerging diseases are a major threat of our time, which is characterized by an enormous increase in the size of the human population and by an unbelievably rapid globalization that has led to the daily transport of millions of humans and containers with goods from one end of the earth to the other. Furthermore the slow but constant global warming offers new opportunities for many agents of diseases to become established in new areas. Therefore it is essential that we develop precautions in order to avoid epidemics or even pandemics in overcrowded megacities or at the large-scale farm animal confinements that are needed to secure a steady flow of food in the crowded regions of the world. Of course intensive research in the field of chemotherapy since 1900 has produced unbelievable breakthroughs in therapies for formerly untreatable and thus deadly diseases. However, a large number of untreatable diseases remain, as well as a constantly growing number of agents of disease that have developed resistances to standard chemical compounds. As such, it is not only worthwhile but also vital to consider the enormous amounts of information that have been obtained by human "high cultures" in the past. Examples from the past (like quinine) or present (like artemisinin, a modern antimalarial drug) show that plant extracts may hold tremendous potential in the fight against parasites and/or against vector-transmitted agents of diseases.

This book covers all details for a successful control and elimination strategy against propagation of deadly liver and intestinal flukes of the genus Schistosoma in China. Cancer due to schistosomiasis is still common in subtropical countries and affords hundred thousands of human and animal deaths per year. Expert authors play close attention to the biology and morphologic aspects of Schistosoma species as well as the history and status quo of schistosomiasis epidemiology. In a unique way, the present work illustrates the need to involve strategic measurements, and to control both adult worms and larval parasite stages. With a special focus on Jiangxi Province, the authors present an effective management plan, ranging from intermediate host snail control to diagnostic tools, medical aid, as well as public health education. This approach from China can be used as blueprint in other countries hit by the same worm infections. The contents of this book will thus be meaningful for academics and practitioners in the fields of parasitology, public health, as well as human and veterinary medicine.

This book covers all details for a successful control and elimination strategy against propagation of deadly liver and intestinal flukes of the genus Schistosoma in China. Cancer due to schistosomiasis is still common in subtropical countries and affords hundred thousands of human and animal deaths per year. Expert authors play close attention to the biology and morphologic aspects of Schistosoma species as well as the history and status quo of schistosomiasis epidemiology. In a unique way, the present work illustrates the need to involve strategic measurements, and to control both adult worms and larval parasite stages. With a special focus on Jiangxi Province, the authors present an effective management plan, ranging from intermediate host snail control to diagnostic tools, medical aid, as well as public health education. This approach from China can be used as blueprint in other countries hit by the same worm infections. The contents of this book will thus be meaningful for academics and practitioners in the fields of parasitology, public health, as well as human and veterinary medicine.