Overview

During the 20 years that have elapsed since the publication of the third edition of Laboratory techniques in rabies, enormous progress has been made in improving methods of rabies vaccine and antisera production, and in developing new diagnostic and assay procedures. Major advances in molecular biology techniques have been extensively applied to the study of the rabies virus during recent years, and a fourth edition of the monograph has therefore become necessary.

This edition includes some 30 new chapters, which describe new diagnostic, research and vaccine production techniques. Although some of these methods are currently restricted to relatively advanced laboratories (e.g, monoclonal antibody techniques, the polymerase chain reaction and virus expression systems), they are expected to become routine procedures in the future. Nevertheless, many laboratories will not have the facilities or equipment to use these methods, therefore the basic classical techniques described in the previous edition have been retained and, where necessary, brought up to date.