Preface to the Second Edition

The first edition of Goat Medicine was well received and we are pleased to have the opportunity to produce a sec­ond edition. Since the first edition appeared in 1994, the global landscape for veterinary medicine has changed dra­matically.

These events underscored the continued importance of infectious diseases in what has become an intimately interconnected, global society. These events also empha­sized the need for veterinary practitioners everywhere to have knowledge of and be able to recognize diseases which traditionally have been considered exotic to their own countries. International issues influencing contempo­rary veterinary medicine are discussed further in David Sherman's other textbook “Tending Animals in the Global Village”, also available from Wiley-Blackwell.

Global infectious disease trends also have affected goat medicine. In 2005, the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was confirmed in a goat in France. Peste des petits ruminants, a serious viral disease of goats and sheep, has extended its range from Africa through the Middle East and well into Asia, causing widespread hardship for subsistence farmers and herders who depend on goats for their livelihoods. Repeated outbreaks of Rift Valley fever in Kenya have also taken a toll on goat populations and the people who rely on them. As such, the second edition of Goat Medicine continues to maintain a global perspective and provide information on goat diseases as they occur throughout the world.

Another significant development since the publication of the first edition has been the advent of the Internet and the increased availability of information on all subjects, including the diseases of goats. Some of this information is very good and some is not so good. As in the first edition, we have strived to provide the most accurate information available on the diseases of goats, their diagnosis, treat­ment, and control. We have avoided whenever possible extrapolating information from other species and we con­tinue to strive, as in the first edition, to provide definitive information that is specific to goats and supported by cita­tions from the world's veterinary literature as well as our own expanded experience in dealing with goat diseases in various locations around the world.

As with the first edition, we intend this book primarily for veterinary practitioners but believe that academic clini­cians, veterinary students, regulatory veterinarians, researchers working with goats, animal scientists, exten­sion agents, livestock development workers, and goat own­ers will also find it useful.

David M. Sherman, Kabul, Afghanistan Mary C. Smith, Ithaca, New York