Contains a wide-ranging review of the ‘Ecoimmunology’ of free-living avian species, assessing the importance of this subject for studying population dynamics and reviewing the methods and resources available for carrying out such research
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Description
The science underpinning avian immunology is crucial to understanding basic immunological principles and the exceptional features of the avian immune system, as different strategies birds have adopted can provide important evolutionary insights. This book provides the most complete picture of the avian immune system so far. The world-wide importance of poultry protein for the human diet, the threat of an avian influenza pandemic and heavy reliance on vaccination to protect commercial flocks world-wide demonstrates the need to review the important practical lessons in disease control presented here.
Readership
Immunologists, cell biologists, pathologists, poultry scientists, vaccinologists and veterinarians. Also zoologists, ecologists, ornithologists and evolutionary biologists interested in using immunological parameters as selection traits for studies on survival and evolution
Contents
The importance of the avian immune system and its unique features Structure of the avian lymphoid system Development of the avian immune system B cells, the bursa of Fabricius and the generation of antibody reperotires Avian T cells: antigen recognition and lineage Structure and evolution of avian immunoglobulins Avian innate immune responses The avian MHC Avian antigen presenting cells Avian cytokines and chemokines Immunogenetics and mapping immunological functions The avian mucosal immune system The avian enteric immune system in health and disease The avian respiratory immune system The avian reproductive immune system Avian immunosuppressive diseases and immune evasion Factors modulating the avian immune system Autoimmune diseases of poultry Tumours of the avian immune system Practical aspects of poultry vaccination Comparative immunology of agricultural birds Ecoimmunology Appendix 1 Genetic stocks for immunological research Appendix 2 Resources available for studying avian immunology
Author Information
Edited by Fred Davison, Institute for Animal Health, Compton Laboratory, Compton, Newbury,UK; Bernd Kaspers, Institute for Animal Physiology, Munich, Germany; and Karel A. Schat, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
