Emerging diseases

EMERGING DISEASES

“Emerging diseases are defined as those whose incidence in humans has increased in the past two decades, and re-emergence is the reappearance of a known disease after a significant decline in incidence. The magnitude of the problem is illustrated by the appearance of several new pathogens causing disease of marked severity, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other retroviruses, arenaviruses, and hantaviruses, all of which are present in the Americas . Simultaneously, old pathogens, such as cholera, plague, dengue hemorrhagic fever, and yellow fever, have re-emerged and are having considerable impact in the Americas.” --- Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Reference Materials

While a good place to start your research for background information, use Databases for current information and research. Note: UM/Science designated titles are located in the Integrated Sciences & Engineering Library (ISEL)

Bergey's Manual of Systematic Biology. G.M. Garrity et al, eds. (UM/Science Ref QR 81 B46 2001)
Dictionary of Virology. B.W.J. Mahy. (UM/Science Ref QR 358 M34 2001)
Encyclopedia of HIV and AIDS. Sarah Watstein. (UM/Du Bois RC 606.6 W385 2003)
Encyclopedia of Immunology. P.J. Delves, I.M. Roitt, eds. (UM/Science Ref QR 180.4 E53 1998)
Encyclopedia of Molecular Biology. T.E. Creighton, ed. (UM/Science Ref QH 506 E53 1999)
Encyclopedia of Virology. R.G. Webster, A Granoff, eds. (UM/Science Ref QR 358 E53 1994)
Handbook of Diseases.(UM/Du Bois RC 55 H265 2004)
Microbiology and Microbial Infections. L. Collier et al, eds. (UM/Science Ref QR 46 T6 1998)
Worldwide Health Sourcebook. J.B. Shannon, ed. (UM/Du Bois Ref RA 441 W68 2001)

Library Catalog
The Five Colleges Libraries Catalog enables you to search for materials in many different ways (e.g., author, title, subject, keyword, call number, journal title, etc.). When looking for materials on a subject, begin by identifying subject headings to enter in the "Search for" box. Look for specific diseases; e.g., for mad cow disease search Bovine spongiform encephalopathy. For broader terms search terms from the examples listed below.

Animals as carriers of disease
Arenaviruses
Arthropod vectors
Communicable diseases
Epidemics
Hantaviruses
Host-parasite relationships
Retroviruses
Zoonoses

Databases
Use databases to locate current academic research as well as news. Types of material indexed may include journals, newspapers, dissertations, books, book chapters, government documents, and conference proceedings. The following databases are available to all on Library computers and off campus to UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff with an OIT account; enter your OIT username and password when prompted. Tip: For basic or general research, first use Academic Search Premier, CQ Researcher, and Health Reference Center.

Academic Search Premier 1975-
Scholarly journal, popular magazine, and newspaper article abstracts and full text from over 4,000 titles. Good source for a general approach.

Agricola 1970-
Citations and abstracts relating to agriculture and allied disciplines; including plant and animal sciences, agricultural products, and food and nutrition.

CAB Direct 1973-
Applied life sciences database is an excellent source of citations and abstracts of journals, books and reports on animal and veterinary science, and human health-related information.

CINAHL 1982-
Current Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature includes citations and abstracts for journal articles, dissertations, books, and reports relating to nursing and allied health fields. Some full text. Vital for relationship of nursing to selected diseases.

CQ Researcher 1991-
Well-documented full-text overviews of current issues, including bibliographies, chronologies and other useful features.

Health Reference Center Academic 1996-
Citations, many full-text magazine and journal articles and health-related pamphlets, and entries from selected reference publications relating to health and allied health.

LexisNexis Academic 1980-
Extensive collection of general, business, and medical news from nearly 6,000 global and multilingual sources, mostly available in full text. Useful for finding elusive stories.

PubMed 1966-
Biomedical literature citations and abstracts with limited full-text. Essential for medical aspects of advanced research.

ScienceDirect 1998-
Full-text scholarly journals from the sciences, including the social sciences, as well as abstracts of unsubscribed and pre-1998 titles.

SciFinder Scholar 1907-
Powerful search interface (including natural language and chemical structures) to search Chemical Abstracts, CAPlus, several related chemical database files (chemical names, commercial availability, chemical reactions), and MEDLINE. There are currently more than 2,500 articles (including patent applications) on avian influenza indexed here, for example. Essential for exhaustive research.

Zoological Record 1978-
Focus on the literature of animal biology, behavior, biodiversity, conservation and systematics. There are over 30,000 references on diseases.

Government Agencies
Government agencies dispense official information related to specific diseases: outbreaks, quarantines, depopulation efforts, control areas, disease fact sheets, hotline information, research, travel and food advisories, prevention, production, and trade.

Massachusetts
Department of Agricultural Resources Bureau of Animal Health
Department of Public Health Health Topics A-Z.

United States
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Infectious Diseases
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Hot Issues
Government Accountability Office (GAO) Tip: Search for reports; e.g., emerging infectious diseases
National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Western Hemisphere
Pan American Health Organization

Europe
European Union. European Commission. Public Health

World
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)

Journals & Newsletters
Some titles specifically dedicated to emerging infectious diseases:


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