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WHO/FAO/OIE Guidelines for the Surveillance, Prevention and Control of Taeniosis/Cysticercosis (ed. Murrell, K. D.), pp. 139. OIE, Paris, France, 2005. ISBN 92 9044 656 0. €30.00.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2005

MICHAEL T. ROGAN
Affiliation:
Cestode Zoonoses Research Group, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, UK
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Extract

Taeniosis/cysticercosis are important zoonotic infections which continue to be a significant problem in several parts of the world including Latin America, Asia and Africa. Control of these infections has always required the collaboration of both veterinary and medical public health services at a national level and these aspects have prompted the production of this publication jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). It has been produced to provide guidance on the design, implementation and standardization of control strategies against these zoonoses. It is a timely update on the previous guidelines produced in 1983 which were of significant importance in providing good overviews of the problems and strategies involved at the time.

Type
Book Review
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

The book has been put together by 17 authors of international reputation and takes the form of the following 6 chapters. Chapter 1: Biology of Taenia solium, Taenia saginata and Taenia saginata asiatica; Chapter 2: Clinical Cysticercosis: Diagnosis and Treatment; Chapter 3: Epidemiology of Taeniosis and Cysticercosis; Chapter 4: Detection and Diagnosis; Chapter 5: Prevention of Taeniosis and Cysticercosis; Chapter 6: Control Measures for Taeniosis and Cysticercosis. The first 2 chapters provide a good overview of the parasites involved, their identification and diagnosis and treatment options. The remaining chapters take a more detailed look at the epidemiology, detection and control of these infections with good information on risk factors involved in transmission and control strategies. The chapter on Detection and Diagnosis is a little limited in discussing the relative benefits and drawbacks of different methods of diagnosis and, although key papers are referenced, does not highlight how performance of the different methods varies. Chapter 6 on Control Measures gives a good focus on the requirements for successful control and gives an overview of existing control programmes and the necessity for a combined medical and veterinary approach. A notable omission in the book is that there is little mentioned on progress in the development of vaccines against larval taeniid cestodes. This is significant, since a number of vaccine trials have been undertaken or are ongoing, with considerable success.

Overall the book is useful to the general parasitologist who wants an overview of these diseases, to medical and veterinary specialists in taeniid biology who want to standardize approaches to diagnosis and treatment and to public health workers involved in the control of these infections.