Veterinary virology.

2^nd international conference virology and infectious disease

Date: September 3-4, 2019

Place: London, UK

URL:  http://virology.alliedacademies.com/

Veterinary virology.

This textbook for veterinary students, like its predecessors, confines itself to the bacteria and the viruses; the protozoa are intentionally omitted on the grounds that they are more reasonably studied in the course of parasitology. The importance is more directly on the organisms themselves rather than on the diseases which they cause. The book is in four parts, specifically: The overall biology of micro-organisms; Contagion, resistance and immunity; Classification and characteristics of pathogenic bacteria, yeasts and moulds; and the filterable viruses and bacteriophages.

The first two parts give an adequate and up-to-date summary which will meet the needs of the student. The classification faithfully follows that of Bergey; this will raise difficulties for some students who may find organisms located in classes quite different from those in which they have been familiar to find them. It was, however, refreshing to find that the author could not follow Bergey in the illogicality of dividing Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae into three separate species namely, E. rhusiopathiae, E. muriseptica and E. erysipeloidis.

 The part dealing with the bacteria, fungi and moulds which also contains the rickettsial infections and diseases affected by the pleuro-pneumonia group of organisms is the best part of the book, particularly the accounts of the diseases which occur in the U.S.A. Minor points which could be analysed are the failure to give discrete accounts of the diseases caused in dogs by Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae and L. canicola, the separation of ornithosis from psittacosis which arises from receipt of Bergey's nomenclature for the causal organism, and the failure to give any account of the important disease of goats, namely, caprine contagious pleuro-pneumonia. The critic found the section dealing with the viruses the least satisfactory part of the book, partly because the diseases are classified according to Holmes' system as published in Bergey (1948) with its collection of new and unfamiliar names, but also because of the very inadequate accounts given of important virus diseases which do not occur in America

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The effort to produce a methodical classification of the viruses seems to be early in the present state of our knowledge and leads to incongruities which will undoubtedly require early alterations and amendments. For example, to place the virus of Rous' sarcoma in a group, all the other members of which cause wart-like growths is surely not justified. Swineherds' disease, now known to be caused by Leptospira Pomona, is listed in the poliomyelitis group of viruses; ectromelia of mice is placed in the herpes group-surely it would be more suitably placed in the pox group? 

The account of foot and mouth disease is compressed into four pages in which there is no reference of the importance of the foil-fixation test in the typing of the virus and in which it is dogmatically stated that transmission of the disease is complicated by the occurrence of carrier animals which act as reservoirs of the virus. The form of indication is against the incidence of carriers and such a statement should have been maintained by passable evidence or at least some indication that there is a division of view on the matter. Rinderpest is allotted two and a half pages in which space it is quite impossible to give the student anything like an adequate description of the disease. For example, the mortality is given as 90% without any mention of the great variations in resistance which occur in different breeds. The list of hosts omits any mention of the important fact that wild ruminants and warthogs are vulnerable and the section on immunization discharges the goat-adapted vaccine in one and a half lines; this is the most widely used of any of the vaccines and a fuller account ought to have been given. The lapinized vaccine so widely used by the Japanese and which is now being used on a rapidly increasing scale in Africa and Asia is not even cited. These omissions are more amazing since the chick-embryo vaccine which is still in the experimental stage is given six lines. African horse illness is said to occur only in South Africa, Egypt and Palestine, whereas it is a mutual and significant disease in East Africa. The accounts of bovine malignant catarrh and Teschen disease of pigs are so brief as to be of little value. 

In the preface it is stated that the listing of a whole bibliography is not measured to be a necessary function of the book; however, at the end of each section lists of references are given. These might be enhanced; for example, the eleven references given after the chapter on pleuro-pneumonia do not mention the important work done in Australia by Turner and his generations, the rinderpest orientations do not include the work of Edwards in India, and so on.

To know more about virology and infectious disease, attend a session on clinical virology at Virology 2019 conference.

Contact details:

Clara Charlotte

Email: virology@microbioconferences.com

Phone: +44 20 3769 1755