The need to protect biodiversity places great constraints on the use of natural spaces such as forests and preserves and often conflicts with the need for sustainable intensification of agricultural and animal production. Human, domestic animal, and wildlife habitats have increasingly overlapped and have resulted in modified patterns of interaction between wild and domestic animals and humans. In such an environmental context, we can expect to see changes in disease transmission between animals and humans. We have already seen an increase in incidence of previously identified zoonoses, but the recent epidemic crises associated with the emergence of new zoonotic diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza emphasize our need to understand and control disease emergence.
The necessity for sustained development and growth of animals in the tropics requires that we identify and control factors that contribute to the emergence of these and other diseases. These factors have a direct effect on animal health and our ability to maintain it.
We need to evaluate the risks of emergence at different levels including the optimization of diagnostic tools organization of control and prevention programs. Maintaining animal health in tropical Asian regions has a profound impact on tropical veterinary medicine and during a time of increased international trade and human mobility has implications for animal health worldwide. This volume explores the impact of these emerging zoonotic diseases on animal health in the tropics as well as all aspects of tropical veterinary medicine.
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