Scientists explore ecological aspects of the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the causative agent of Lyme's disease in humans and domestic animals carried by ticks. They summarize its ecology in Europe, Russia, Japan and East Asia, and North America. Other topics include the history and characteristics of the disease, terminology and some methodological pitfalls, molecular and cellular biology of the bacteria, vectors, the vertebrate host, vaccination, and environmental management. Information generally scattered among specialist journals is here assembled for researchers, clinicians, and students of zoonotic or vector-borne infectious diseases. Distributed in the US by Oxford University Press. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Lyme borreliosis is now acknowledged as the most highly prevalent arthropod-borne human disease in northern temperate regions of the world. The majority of the publications it has generated concern clinical aspects, and a book dealing with the complex biology and ecology of the causative organisms in a worldwide context is overdue. This book describes the basic characteristics of the disease, the biology of the pathogens in their vectors (ticks) and vertebrate hosts, their ecology in different regions of the world and the global epidemiology of the disease. The final chapters address the prevention and control measures that have resulted from this knowledge.
