Infectious Diseases in Primates

• The first book to synthesise and integrate the previously disparate areas of primate socioecology, parasite functional categories, host defences, and theoretical models of disease spread.
• Organizes hypotheses according to parasite traits such as transmission mode, host specificity and virulence.
• Develops a new co-evolutionary framework for investigating parasites and primate social evolution at empirical and theoretical scales.
• Ideal graduate seminar course material.

Readership: An advanced textbook suitable for graduate level students as well as professional researchers in the fields of behavioural ecology, primatology, conservation biology, biological anthropology, public health and wildlife epidemiology.

Charles Nunn, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany and Department of Integrative Biology at University of California, Berkeley, USA., and Sonia Altizer, Institute of Ecology, Universtiy of Georgia, Athens, USA

"[this book] is organized in nine chapters, each building upon the last, making it an excellent text for introducing the subject of primate pathogen biology to audiences coming from divergent backgrounds, but with a shared interest in the topic. I can attest to the success of this volume in this regard, having used it to lead a graduate seminar including participants from biological anthropology, epidemiology, ecology, and veterinary medicine." - Evolutionary Biology

"This innovative book provides a comprehensive synthesis of the emerging and topical field of disease ecology. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to those with a passion for diseases or primates." - Raina K. Plowright, TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution (2006)

1: Questions, Terminology, and Underlying Principles
2: Diversity and Characteristics of Primate Parasites
3: Primate Socioecology and Disease Risk: Predictions and Rationale
4: Host-Parasite Dynamics and Epidemiological Principles
5: Host Defenses: The Immune System and Behavioral Counterstrategies
6: Infectious Disease and Primate Social Systems
7: Parasites and Primate Conservation
8: From Nonhuman Primates to Human Health and Evolution
9: Concluding Remarks and Future Directions