Abstract
Saif, Y. M., Barnes, H. J., Glisson, J. R., Fadly, A. M., McDougald, L. R., and Swayne, D. E. (eds.). Diseases of Poultry, 11th ed. 1248 pp. Iowa State Press, Ames, IA, 2003. Book $154.99, ISBN 081380423X. CD $179.99, ISBN 0813828902.
The 11th edition of Disease of Poultry appears 60 years from the publication of the first edition in 1943. With contributions from 88 authors from 13 countries, it is the most comprehensive text on diseases of avian food animals worldwide. The members of the editorial board represent the American Association of Avian Pathologists, which undertakes the sponsorship and development of each new edition. The new edition is improved by a larger page size and larger fonts and is also available in CD format.
Poultry production involves disease control in large populations of animals, often in the millions. The book successfully integrates the pathobiology of avian diseases and the broader implications for disease diagnosis and control in large populations.
This edition has been reorganized to include an introductory chapter on disease diagnosis and prevention in modern production, with added reviews on avian immunology and antimicrobial therapy. The remainder of the book is organized into six sections by etiology: viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic diseases; noninfectious diseases; and other diseases. Of the 36 chapters, 19 are further organized into a total of 71 subchapters.
The organization and content of the book are flexible and focus on the reader's needs. For example, most viral diseases are grouped according to virus classification; however, viral diseases of waterfowl are conveniently described together. Although the emphasis is on diseases of poultry, the chapter on circoviruses contains subchapters on chicken infectious anemia, psittacine beak and feather syndrome, and circovirus of pigeons, which provide valuable comparative information. Neoplastic diseases are also covered in the viral disease section, encompassing tumors caused by herpesviruses and retroviruses, as well as avian tumors of undetermined etiology. In the final section a chapter covers emerging diseases and disease syndromes of multiple or unknown etiology. This is a valuable feature of each edition and marks the steady advances in characterization of new diseases.
The veterinary pathologist will appreciate the descriptions of the anatomic pathology of each disease. The book would be improved for the pathologist if some chapters had more photographs of gross and histologic lesions. The authors represent various academic disciplines related to poultry diseases, and this is somewhat reflected in the relative importance given to figures of lesions. The text is, however, abundantly referenced with the original publications on pathology. The book contains just over 500 black-and-white figures, and 190 color figures are distributed on 26 plates.
Diseases of Poultry, 11th edition, is indispensable for the pathologist involved with poultry diagnostics or avian research and provides valuable exposure for the pathology resident.