Following the approach of earlier editions, the eighth edition of Volume 3 Bacterial Diseases treats the bacterial diseases of animal and man seperately from the account of the general characters of bacteria and systematic biology. There are now more contributors, and new chapters on laboratory diagnosis, urinary-tract infections, septicaemia and endocarditis, and diseases of immunodeficient or immunosuppressed patients. Many existing chapters have been extensively rewritten, and the striking growth of knowledge in the field of campylobacter infection is reflected in a completely new account.