Conservation medicine is an emerging discipline, focussing on the intersection of ecosystem health, animal health, and human health. Work in the biomedical and veterinary sciences is now being folded into conservation biology; to explore the connections between animal and human health; trace the environmental sources of pathogens and pollutants; develop an understanding of the ecological causes of changes in human and animal health; and understand the consequences of diseases to populations and ecological communities. Conservation Medicine defines this new discipline. It examines ecological health issues from various standpoints, including the emergence and resurgence of infectious disease agents; the increasing impacts of toxic chemicals and hazardous substances; and the health implications of habitat fragmentation and degradation and loss of biodiversity. It will provide a framework to examine the connections between the health of the planet and the health of all species and challenge practitioners and students in the health sciences and natural sciences to think about new, collaborative ways to address ecological health concerns.

Many aspects of the new field of conservation medicine, defined here as the pursuit of the health of ecosystems and their inhabitants, are covered in this substantial volume. The 29 chapters are devoted to general and specific topics, including: the spread of diseases through ecotourism, ballast water dumping, insects, and other causes; the impact of social parameters, ecological change, and climate trends on species dynamics for controlling disease; emerging and resurgent infectious diseases as a manifestation of ecological health; and monitoring tools. The breadth of the volume ensures a broad readership of scientists as well as the general reader. The international group of contributors includes scientists at research institutions and environmental and wildlife centers.
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Conservation Medicine brings together an impressive group of experts from diverse specialties (medicine, veterinary science, conservation biology, epidemiology, parasitology, public health, and others) to examine the links among human health, wildlife health, and ecosystem health. [The book] goes a long way toward teaching us to analyze health problems in ecological context If the book gets the attention it deserves, it will inspire researchers, funders, policy makers, and the general public in both developed and developing countries to become involved in finding collaborative solutions to the conservation crisis. " --Environmental Health Perspectives

Conservation medicine focuses on the cross-over between ecosystem, animal and human health. Conservation biology emerged as a "crisis" discipline in the 1980s at the interface between ecology, environmental policy and management; and work in the biomedical and veterinary sciences is now being folded into conservation biology, to explore the connections between animal and human health. It traces the environmental sources of pathogens and pollutants in order to develop a rounded, interdisciplinary understanding of the ecological causes of changes in human and animal health, and the consequences of diseases to populations and ecological communities.

Foreword

Contributors

Part I: Ecological Health and Change

1. Introduction, James G. Else and Mark A. Pokras

2. Defining Conservation Medicine, Gary M. Tabor

3. Conservation Medicine: The Birth of Another Crisis Discipline, Richard S. Ostfeld, Gary K. Meffe and Mary C. Pearl

4. Biodiversity, Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Paul R. Epstein

5. Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Key Role for Conservation Medicine, Peter Daszak and Andrew A. Cunningham

6. Effects of Endocrine Disruptors on Human and Wildlife Health, Theo Colborn

Part II: Monitoring Ecological Health

7. Monitoring the Health and Conservation of Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, and Their Ecosystems, A. Alonso Aguirre, Todd M. O'Hara, Terry R. Spraker and David A. Jessup

8. Disease Monitoring for the Conservation of Terrestrial Animals, Linda Munson and William B. Karesh

9. Emergence of Infectious Diseases in Marine Animals, Carol House, A. Alonso Aguirre and James A. House

10. Viruses as Evolutionary Tools to Monitor Population Dynamics, Mary Poss, Roman Biek and Allen Rodrigo

11. Assessing Stress and Population Genetics Through Noninvasive Means, Samuel K. Wasser, Kathleen E. Hunt and Christine M. Clarke

12. Animal Behavior as a Tool in Conservation Biology, J. Michael Reed

Part III: Ecological Health and Humans

13. Global Ecological Change and Human Health, Jonathan A. Patz and Nathan D. Wolfe

14. Biodiversity and Human Health, Eric Chivian and Sara Sullivan

15. Vector-Borne Infections and Health Related to Landscape Changes, David H. Molyneux

16. Ecological Context of Lyme Disease: Biodiversity, Habitat Fragmentation, and Risk of Infection, Richard S. Ostfeld, Felicia Keesing, Eric M. Schauber and Kenneth A. Schmidt

17. Zoonotic Infections and Conservation, Thaddeus K. Graczyk

18. Chronic Effects of Toxic Microalgae on Finfish, Shellfish and Human Health, JoAnn M. Burkholder

Part IV: Implementing Conservation Medicine

19. Ecological Health and Wildlife Disease Management in National Parks, Colin M. Gillin, Gary M. Tabor and A. Alonso Aguirre

20. Wildlife Health, Ecosystems and Rural Livelihoods in Botswana, Michael D. Kock, Gary R. Mullins and Jeremy S. Perkins

21. Zoological Parks in Endangered Species Recovery and Conservation, Anthony Allchurch

22. The Mountain Gorilla and Conservation Medicine, Michael Cranfield, Lynne Gaffikin, Jonathan Sleeman and Matthew Rooney

23. Linking Human and Ecosystem Health on the Amazon Frontier, Tamsyn P. Murray, James J. Kay, David Waltner-Toews and Ernesto Raez-Luna

24. Deer Tick-Transmitted Zoonoses in the Eastern United States, Sam R. Telford III

Part V: Conservation Medicine and Challenges for the Future

25. Biodiversity in Biomedical Research, Joshua P. Rosenthal and Trent Preszler

26. Introducing Ecosystem Health Into Undergraduate Medical Education, David J. Rapport, John Howard, Robert Lannigan, Robert McMurtry, Douglas L. Jones, Christopher M. Anjema and John R. Bend

27. Ecotourism: Unforseen Effects on Health, Mary E. Wilson

28. Global Ecological Integrity, Global Change and Public Health, Colin L. Soskolne and Roberto Bertollini

29. Wildlife Health and Environmental Security: New Challenges and Opportunities, Jamie K. Reaser, Edward J. Gentz and Edward E. Clark, Jr.