"This fourth volume of the Global Burden of Disease and Injuries Series provides the reader with information on the epidemiology and burden of major infectious and parasitic diseases. As with previous volumes of the Global Burden of Disease study, the chapters in this book detail the situation as experienced in the year 1990. Since then the epidemiology of some of the conditions described has changed, and where this is the case the authors have added a brief paragraph acknowledging this. The chapters therefore do not provide a detailed update on the current burden of disease, which is accommodated in the documentation of the Global Burden of Disease 2000 and published elsewhere."--Preface.

The April 20th 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig led to the largest oil spill in U.S. waters. Federal government officials estimated that the deepwater well ultimately released over 200 million gallons of crude oil. Although decreasing amounts of oil were observed on the ocean surface following the well's containment on July 15th 2010, oil spill response officials and researchers have found oil in other places. This new book examines the fate of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Direct observation and measurement of the fate of the vast majority of the estimated 200 million gallons of oil presents a considerable challenge.