The Population Biology of Parasitic Helminths in Animal Populations

Abstract

Most of the other chapters on infectious diseases in this book have concentrated on microparasites, the viruses, bacteria and protozoa, in human populations. This chapter will concentrate on mathematical models for macroparasites, the parasitic helminths, in wild, domestic and laboratory populations of animals. Instead of describing any group of models in specific detail, the development of the models from a common source is illustrated. Similarly, no formal proofs of the models’ properties are given, emphasis is instead placed upon the applications of the models to the control of diseases caused by parasitic helminths. Citations to the relevant papers form an introduction to the reader wishing to either examine the mathematical properties of the models or the more specific details of their application to a specific epidemiological problem.