Microbes play a constant roll in our everyday lives, and food-borne infections and emerging infectious diseases are often a major public health concern. Extensively revised and updated with the latest data in this fast-paced field, the third edition of The Microbial Challenge, A Public Health Perspective presents a modern look at human-microbe interactions and considers those microbes that are disease producers and how humans can live in harmony with them. With a strong emphasis on human disease, this text fully explores bacterial and viral diseases, how our immune system response to them, and what we can do to prevent further outbreaks and control potentially life threatening epidemics. This edition includes new information on culturing bacteria, molecular diagnostics, vaccinations, disinfection, and immune compromised people and emerging diseases. New feature boxes throughout the text detail human interest items and make interesting, real-world material come alive for readers. New and Key Features of the Third Edition:-New end-of-chapter questions included in every chapter.-A wealth of new feature boxes add a real-world perspective to the topics at hand.-New data on virotherapy and prions as infectious agents-New and updated statistics and data tables included throughout the text-Includes the latest on emerging and reemerging infectious diseases as major health problems