The World Health Organization in Europe has published a book on the diseases of urban pests. Though this publication was produced in 2008, I recently became aware of it and wanted my visitors to be aware of it as well.
Understandably, the majority of the pages discuss diseases related to insects. The authors, however, didn’t neglect commensal rodents or birds. I looked at the bird chapter and it mentioned some diseases I don’t recall hearing before. If their treatment of birds is indicative of how they addressed other topics, then the authors pick a heading (ticks, fleas, commensal rodents, non-commensal rodents, etc.), summarize the research on diseases related to that topic and review their potential to cause harm to humans.
Though the book focusses on European concerns, it is still useful for us Americans. If you need information that is unbiased and thoroughly researched (as well as brief) on wildlife diseases, I strongly suggest you download the book today. Note that it is a big file. So be patient. I tried to use Internet Explorer and the file wouldn’t open. Google Chrome worked fine.
It is available as a free download at http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/98426/E91435.pdf Beware, it is a large book.
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