Description
History of Rabies in the Americas, Volume IV: A Disease of Nature continues the series established by the three preceding volumes, which presented topical and spatio-temporal perspectives, and retrospectives from experts and others who encountered this disease. Volume IV presents species-specific insights, providing expert commentary from scientists specializing in the non-human species affected by rabies. A truly unique perspective is achieved in each chapter by partnering authors with varying but complementary expertise, e.g. a wildlife biologist and a virologist, or a veterinarian with a microbiologist.
This volume's species perspective is especially crucial for understanding the history and modern implications of rabies in the Americas. Unlike the rest of the world where canine rabies accounts for 99% of detected cases, the disease has been mostly eliminated in dogs in the New World. As a result, around 90% of regional cases are now found in wildlife species, especially foxes, skunks, raccoons, and bats. The history of canine rabies remains critical to appreciating the epidemiology, evolution, and public health ramifications of this disease, especially on indigenous populations in the Americas.
Adopting a species-specific lens allows this volume to explore the spread of rabies from its introduction during the colonial period up to the present, and the impacts it has had on the wildlife, domesticated animal, and human populations of the region. Engaging chapters tie these specific insights together through a One Health perspective, and address the current and future impacts of climate change, international management of the disease, and rabies' effects on agricultural systems and conservation biology.
Origins and Evolution of Bats in the Americas.- A Deep-time Dive into the Fossil Record of North American Predatory Mammals.- A cultural and evolutionary history of dogs in the Americas.- Bat Rabies in the Americas.- Arctic fox, a cool rabies host.- Rabies and the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) in North America.- Rabies and the Gray Fox.- Rabies and the Crab-eating Fox, Cerdocyon thous.- Rabies in skunks in North America: A new look at an old problem.- Raccoon Rabies.- Emerging rabies virus reservoirs: the other procyonids in the New World.- Rabies in the small Indian mongoose.- Rabies in Other Mammalian Carnivores in the Americas.- Rabies in South American Marmosets: Epidemiology, Distribution, and Public Health Implications.- The Rodent Factor: Contributions to Rabies in the Americas?.- Canine Rabies.- Rabies in Cats in the Americas.-
Charles E. Rupprecht is a World Health Organization Expert Technical Adviser on Rabies, retired as the head of the rabies program at CDC. He has co-authored over 400 peer-reviewed papers, written scores of book chapters, edited several books and served as an editor for several journals.
