"People who handle wildlife, including field workers, wildlife professionals, trappers, and hunters, want to know about potential diseases, risks, and how to protect themselves from zoonotic disease. This book presents information on the most prevalent and serious zoonotic diseases existing in the United States and Canada. Each chapter contains the history of the disease, symptoms in humans, medical treatment, transmission of pathogens to humans, role of wildlife as vectors, and methods to minimize risk"--

"Preface We have titled this book Human Diseases from Wildlife, but an equally appropriate title would be Wildlife Diseases from Humans. Diseases that are caused by pathogens with the ability to infect both humans and animals are known as zoonotic diseases, which literally means "disease from animals." In this book, we have concentrated on zoonotic diseases in which wild animals play an important role as a reservoir and/or a vector for the pathogen. For some of these diseases, livestock or companion animals (i.e., pets) are often involved and may serve as a bridge that allows a pathogen of wildlife to infect people. That is, livestock may become infected from a wildlife source, and humans become ill from the infected livestock. We have written this book because too many people are uninformed about zoonotic diseases. This lack of information causes some people to have heightened fear of zoonotic diseases, preventing them from enjoying wildlife or spending time outdoors. Other people needlessly expose themselves to zoonotic diseases by neglecting simple precautions. The diseases that people can contract from wild animals are fascinating, and we have included interesting information to make the book more enjoyable to read. Concomitantly, each disease is covered in an individual chapter, enabling readers to easily find information about a particular disease"--