Evolution and Ecology Program

EEP Books
Cambridge Studies in Adaptive Dynamics

Adaptive Dynamics of Infectious Diseases: In Pursuit of Virulence Management Edited by Ulf Dieckmann, Johan A.J. Metz, M.W. Sabelis, and K. Sigmund Cambridge University Press (2002). From the Back Cover Emerging diseases pose a continual threat to public health. Fast multiplication and high rates of genetic change allow pathogens to evolve very rapidly, It is therefore imperative to incorporate evolutionary considerations into longer-term health managements plans. The evolution of infectious diseases is also an ideal test-bed for theories of evolutionary dynamics. This book combines both threads, taking stock of our current knowledge of the evolutionary ecology of infectious diseases, and setting out goals for the management of virulent pathogens. Throughout the book, the fundamental concepts and techniques that underlie the modeling approaches are carefully expalined in a unique series of integrated boxes. The book ends with an overview of novel options for virulence management in humans, farm animals,plants, wildlife populations, and pest and their natural enemies. Written for graduate students and researchers, Adaptive Dynamics of Infectious Diseases provides an integrated treatment of mathematical evolutionary modeling and disease management.


Introduction "Whenever public health officials, veterinary epidemiologists, advisory plant pathologists, conservation biologists, or biocontrol workers want to devise strategies to manage the course of infectious diseases, they must bear in mind that they are merely adding one level of strategic action on top of other, age-old layers of strategic interactions. These have been devised through the programming by natural selection of both the pathogen and hosts - organisms that differ widely in scale, generation tome, and life history, and that use individual variability and polymorphisms to fuel their arms races. If public health decisions are not based on a sound knowledge of these underlying tugs of war, they risk being counterproductive. Many human interferences, far from managing disease, have helped disease to manage us."

Table of Contents Part A - Setting the Stage Part B - Host Population Structure Part C - Within-Host Interactions Part D - Pathogen-Host Coevolution Part E - Multilevel Selection Part F - Vaccines and Drugs Part G - Perspectives for Virulence Management

Book Review in ESMTB Newsletter "This volume is not to be missed by anyone interested in the evolution of virulence, theoretical epidemiology, and the management of infectious diseases. It is, in addition, an ideal introduction for advanced students (and professional scientists) wishing to learn mathematical modeling for evolutionary questions in general and for infectious diseases in particular."

Book Review in Conservation Ecology "Outstanding, intellectually stimulating, this is a meticulously researched book. It merits a prominent place on the book shelves of researchers, teachers, and students who are concerned with the complex dynamics of infectious diseases."

Book Review in Trends in Ecology and Evolution "Because of the multiplicity of factors that are now thought to influence parasite virulence, this book touches, in its 33 chapters, on a very broad range of topics."

Book Review in Ecoscience "Virulence management will continue to be a hot topic that will undoubtedly be subject to much refinement. This book provides an outstanding treatment of the ecological, evolutionary, and physiological richness of this active area of research. Ecologists will find it richly rewarding and stimulating, and if health professionals give it a try, they will find much to guide health policy."

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