Professor Emeritus K.A. (Ton) Schat received his veterinary degree from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands in 1970 and his PhD degree in Virology from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY in 1978. He joined the faculty at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University in 1978, where he remained until his retirement in 2011. His research focused on the immunology and pathogenesis of viral diseases of poultry, especially Marek's disease and chicken infectious anemia. He has published over 165 papers in peer-reviewed journals and more than 30 book chapters. His contributions to avian disease research were recognized with the Upjohn Achievement Award of the AAAP in1986, the Dr. Bart Rispens Research Award of the WVPA in 1987, the Pfizer Award for Excellence in Poultry Research of the AVMA in 1999, and the Merck Award for Achievement in Poultry Science of the PSA in 2005. In 2010 he was recognized by his peers with a special award for outstanding research in the field of Marek's disease. He is a founding member of the Hall of Honour of the World Veterinary Poultry Association. Bernd Kaspers graduated as a veterinarian in 1986 at the University of Munich and completed his doctoral thesis (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) in 1989. He subsequently worked as a post-doc at the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Livestock and Poultry Sciences Institute, Beltsville, MD, USA and returned to the University of Munich in 1992 where he became a full Professor for Animal Physiology in 1997. Since his dissertation he has focused on avian immuno-physiology investigating B-lymphocyte biology, cytokines and the mucosal immune system in chickens. This work included studies on a range of infection models such as avian coccidiosis, avian influenza, Marek's Disease and Salmonella infections. His research is documented in more than 85 publications in peer-reviewed journals, several reviews and book chapters. His work is funded by grants from the German Research Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the European Union and through several co-operations with the poultry and vaccine industry. Bernd Kaspers is member of the German Society for Immunology and as such has been speaker of the Veterinary Immunology Study Group of the society for the last 6 years. In 2004 he hosted together with Thomas Goebel the 8th Avian Immunology Research Group Meeting in Munich with more than 120 participants. Professor Pete Kaiser is Head of the Division of Infection and Immunity and Chair in Animal Infectious Diseases at The Roslin Institute & R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh. He is also Head of the newly established National Avian Research Facility at Roslin. He has published over 130 primary research papers and holds 3 patents, primarily in avian immunology and genetics, and is currently supported by grants from the BBSRC, EU, industry and charities. He has won competitive funding totalling over 5M since joining The Roslin Institute in 2010. He holds visiting appointments at the Universities of Queensland and Liverpool and is on the Editorial Boards of 6 journals. He is a trustee of the Houghton Trust and serves on several BBSRC working and advisory groups. In 2009 he was awarded the Houghton Lecture at the World Veterinary Poultry Association meeting in Morocco. Industrial collaborators include Zoetis Animal Health, CEVA Sante Animale, HyLine, Cobb-Vantress and Aviagen.

1. The importance of the avian immune system and its unique features 2. Structure of the avian lymphoid system 3. Early ontogeny of the avian immune system 4. B cells, bursa, development of antibody repertoire 5. T cell development and function 6. Antibodies 7. Innate immune responses 8. MHC and its role in avian immune responses 9. Antigen Presenting Cells 10. Cytokines and chemokines 11. Immunogenetics and mapping immunological functions 12. The mucosal immune system 13. Enteric immune system 14. Respiratory Immune system 15. Reproductive immune system 16. Immunodepressive diseases & immune evasion 17. Factors modulating the immune system 18. Autoimmune diseases of poultry 19. Tumours of the immune system 20. Practical aspects of vaccination 21. Comparative immunology of domesticated agricultural species 22. Ecological Immunology

The science underpinning avian immunology is crucial to understanding basic immunological principles. The exceptional features of the avian immune system and different strategies birds have adopted can provide important evolutionary insights. This book provides the most complete picture of the avian immune system so far. The worldwide importance of poultry protein for the human diet, the threat of an avian influenza pandemic and heavy reliance on vaccination to protect commercial flocks worldwide demonstrates the need to review the important practical lessons in disease control presented here.