BOOK REVIEWS

THE VETERINARIAN

This FAO/WHO publication* provides a brief but adecuate summary of the veterinary contribution to public health practice. The inherent versatility of the veterinarian which should result from his wide training and full understanding of epidemiology fit him well to extend his versatility into the field of public health.

This report attempts to provide answers to the follow- ing questions:

How can the scientific knowledge and skills of the veterinary profession best serve the interest of human health today?

How can the considerable resources of the profession be best brought to bear on the health needs of man?

In particular, what organisational approaches can be used by governments to achieve effective mobilisation and utilisation of these resources?

What are the public health functions for which the veterinarian is uniquely qualified?

What public health duties might many veterinarians, physicians, and other public health workers perform equally well?

How bhould the Veterinarian and his assistants be trained to contribute to public health?

In considering these questions the Committee felt it desirable that governments should set up veterinary public health units within the department or ministry of health to provide a focal point for veterinary public health activities and to encourage exchange of informa-

AND PUBLIC HEALTH

tion and liaison with other governmental and non- governmental agencies interested in animals and animal products.

The report discusses the activities usually undertaken by veterinary public health units, which include disease surveillance and food protection and legislation. Veterin- arians are also engaged in laboratory services, environ- mental protection, control of dangerous animals, occu- pational medicine, etc. Veterinary public health units can also promote exchange of information in a number of areas of veterinary research of great importance to public health, for example, in the fields of comparative medicine, animal models for the study of human diseases, and laboratory animals.

One section of the report deals with the organisation, administration, and implementation of veterinary public health services and programs and some of the annexes to the report give examples of organisational arrange- ments in 2 countries and of the role of modem manage- ment methods in veterinary public health.

The report draws attention to the need to emphasise the public health aspects during undergraduate veterinary education and to the advantages of admitting veterin- arians to public health diploma courses on an equal basis with physicians. The areas of high priority for training in veterinary public health are discussed in an annex.

At the international and regional level, the report - considers the roles of FA0 -and WHO and draws attention to the contribution of the PAHO/WHO regional and zone veterinary public health officers in the Americas and of the Pan American Zoonoses Center

country level. The structure and activities of the Pan American Zoonoses Center are described in an annex.

* a V e ~ ~ ~ ~ r r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ , n , , t ~ ~ P ~ ~ ~ m ~ ~ l t h o , P ' ~ ~ p ~ ~ b ~ ~ Health. WHO Technical Report Series, NO. 573. 1975. ~ p . 80. Available In Australia from Australian Government Publishing

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ e t " ~ e ~ , " ~ . c ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ $ ~ g!,?;, "{ St. Georee's Terrace.' Perth: Bani House. 315 Georee S t h .

Service Sales and Distribution, P.O. Box 84, Canberra, and in promoting veterinary public health projects at the

Sydney; %nd Hunk[ Publications, 58A Gipps Street: Collins: wood, Victoria. 8 Swiss Fr. H. McL. Gordon

IMMUNOBIQLOGY OF TROPHOBLAST

The survival of the foetus presents a paradox to the immunologist. Despite carrying antigens that are foreign to its mother, the foetus is not rejected in a manner similar to allografts. Hypotheses which have been proposed for the survival of the foetus in utero can be divided into three main areas.

First, the inability of foetal antigens to stimulate allograft immunity.

Secondly, the immunological responsiveness of the mother is in some way altered in such a manner which prevents her from responding to foetal antigens.

Thirdly, an anatomical barrier exists which separates foetal antigens from maternal immunologically com- petent cells.

Although all these areas are discussed in this volume," most attention is given to the latter and the role of the trophoblast in providing protection of the foetus against maternal immunological rejection is the central theme.

The volume includes 12 critical reviews by highly competent authors in this field. The discussions which follow each communication are published in detail.

A. W. Cripps

* Immunobiology of Trophoblast, edited by R. G. Edwards, C. W. S. Howe and M. H. Johnson. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, London, New York and Melbourne, 1975. 284 pp. $26.00 (U.K.)

546 Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol. 52, November, 1976