New ASM Publications Available

Cumitech 40: Packing and Shipping of Diagnostic Specimens and Infectious Substances

In December 2003, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) announced the release of Cumitech 40: Packing and Shipping of Diagnostic Specimens and Infectious Substances—a 16-page booklet on rules and regulations governing the shipment of biological and infectious substances3. The latest in the ASM Press series of Cumulative Techniques and Procedures in Clinical Microbiology, this publication provides a brief, authoritative, and practical guide that summarizes the recent regulations, and is designed to help individuals working with pathogens comply with national and international transport regulations and provides guidelines for shipping dangerous pathogens and toxins by land and by air.

Natural Pathogens of Laboratory Animals: Their Effects on Research

Another ASM Press book of interest to scientists, veterinarians, and staff who work with laboratory animals is David Baker's Natural Pathogens of Laboratory Animals: Their Effects on Research, published in July 2003 (ref. 4). It describes the most common natural pathogens, many of which cause subclinical disease—their agents, epidemiology, clinical signs, pathology, potential for interference with research or alterations of research findings, and methods of diagnosis and control. The book contains chapters on animal housing for pathogen exclusion or containment, pathogen surveillance, and pathogens of rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets, cats, dogs, swine, and nonhuman primates. It describes a historical perspective on changes in the general awareness of laboratory animal pathogens and an overview of the important distinction between infection and disease.