This textbook provides good reference information for veterinary practitioners and detail oriented shepherds. It has been expanded and updated from previous editions. The book is divided into 16 parts, containing a total of 75 chapters. The text has more information on diseases other than just those of sheep. The first part is about sheep in general, with country distribution statistics and use of sheep in Europe. Part 2 consists of chapters on the welfare of sheep, including standards and practices. Part 3, one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date parts, is titled “Reproductive Physiology” and contains chapters on reproductive and perinatal management. Most parts of the book are based on the systems approach to diseases. All body systems are covered, followed by information on poisons, tumors, and diseases. Finally, there is a part that compiles some useful information on flock management, therapeutics, anaesthesia, and postmortem diagnosis. The appendices include hematology and biochemistry reference tables for sheep, which are always good for clinicians to have close at hand. High quality color and black and white figures are included; all have informative legends and are helpful in understanding the concepts. The editor and contributors from the Moredun Research Institute are renowned for their expertise in sheep and animal health research. The list of invited contributors is extensive and they provide many perspectives. There is some inconsistency in the content of the disease sections, which may be due to having so many contributors and a flexible format. For example, most chapters on disease include a description of cause, clinical signs, epidemiology, treatment, and pathology. The therapeutic information ranges from very general to very detailed with specific dosages and holding times in only some of the chapters. In most pathology sections there is only a description of necropsy findings and occasionally in some chapters there is a detailed discussion of the pathogenesis of the diseases. As indicated in the 1st chapter, the book is truly based on the “UK perspective of the World.” There are only 2 contributing authors from North America, one of whom has been in Canada only a few years, and had developed his disease expertise in the UK. There is a short chapter on regional differences of sheep diseases within North America and minimal reference to epidemiological differences that exist around the world. For example, Q fever, which is emerging as a highly significant cause of reproductive disease in sheep in some countries and is a very significant concern for the international sheep trade, is inadequately described. In summary, this is not a textbook that provides extensive detail on diseases of sheep, although it is generally comprehensive. The additional chapters, which are not specifically about diseases, are informative but are somewhat out of place for the student of veterinary medicine or practitioner looking for an indepth reference for diseases of sheep. The quality of the publication is high and so is the price. The number of textbooks that address problems of sheep are few, and this one ranks among the best in my experience.

We evaluated the indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) test and complement-fixation (CF) test for diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis in the absence of a gold standard. Using Evan's blue, we estimated the specificity of the IFA test on a parasite-free, field horse population to be 98% (95% confidence interval=97, 99). We observed an excellent test agreement (kappa=0.83) between two collaborating laboratories when the IFA test was performed on identical samples from an endemic area. Using Bayesian analysis with informative prior probability distributions, we estimated the sensitivity of the IFA test to be 92% (95% probability interval, PI=81, 98), and specificity to be 95% (95% PI=88, 99). The CF test sensitivity and specificity estimates were 28% (95% PI=15, 47) and 99% (95% PI=96, 100), respectively. We found the IFA to be superior to the CF test, and the inclusion of Evan's blue in test protocol improved the performance of the IFA test. We conclude that the IFA test for Babesia caballi is a sensitive and specific test for the diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis.

The indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test for Theileria equi was evaluated to assess test's suitability for the serological diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis, to provide performance parameters for the purpose of test validation, and to compare it with the complement fixation (CF) test. Using a protocol that included Evan's blue, the specificity of the IFA test was estimated at 99.0% for T. equi by the classical method of analysis, and 96.6% by the Bayesian method. The use of Evan's blue in the test protocol increased test specificity and contributed to an excellent test agreement between two collaborating laboratories (kappa = 0.96). Using Bayesian analysis, the sensitivity estimate for the IFA test was 89.2%. The CF test sensitivity and specificity estimates for T. equi were 63.1 and 96.4%, respectively, as determined by Bayesian analysis. The IFA test was more sensitive than the CF test but the specificity estimates were similar.