Review of "Emerging Pests and Vector-Borne Diseases in Europe" by Willem Takken and Bart G.J. Knols

Book details Takken W, Knols BGJ: Emerging Pests and Vector-Borne Diseases in Europe 2007, 1:500 [http://www.wageningenaca demic.com/ECVD]. Wageningen Academic Publishers ISBN 978-90-8686-053-1 Review VBDs, which constitute a global threat to human and animal health as well to livestock production, have been the subject of a number of publications ranging from periodicals to international conference proceedings and databases. "Emerging Pests and Vector-Borne Diseases in Europe" focuses on this subject and is the first volume in a new series of books on the "Ecology and Control of Vector-Borne Diseases" designed to provide readers with upto-date information on different issues and current scientific priorities in vector ecology and VBDs. While the authors of future books in this series, which will be published annually, will deal with more specific subjects in the same field of research (i.e. Surveillance Methods of Vectors of Infectious Diseases, Mating Behaviours of Diseases Vectors, Recent Advances in the Control of Mosquitoes), "Emerging Pests and Vector-Borne Diseases in Europe" launches this European publishing venture with an overview of pests and VBDs. Given the difference of both approach and priorities in regard to the control and management of VBDs all over the world, the editorial decision to focus on Europe is certainly an original way of engaging with this topic. The chapters cover the interpretation of "emerging" and "re-emerging" and even the "resurgence" of many (but not all) VBDs and pests in Europe, concluding that this term cannot have an unambiguous meaning if not within the context of each subject. Thus, the first section of this multi-authored book presents information on VBDs of (re-) emerging concern in Europe such as malaria, leishmaniasis, viral diseases (bluetongue, West Nile, Usutu, Chikungunya, Dengue), and tick-borne diseases causing encephalitis and Lyme disease. Particular attention has been paid to the reasons behind the spread of VBDs and to current forecasts about their diffusion. In this first part of the book, one might have expected to discover more about a number of tickborne diseases (e.g. those caused by Rickettsiales, Bartonellaceae or haemoprotozoa), or about nematodes transmitted by biting insects. This is not the case.