Overview of the Merck Veterinary Manual
Content last modified Feb 2019
Merck & Co., Inc., has a long history of providing medical information to both human and animal health care professionals. For more than 60 years, the Merck Veterinary Manual (MVM) has provided veterinarians and other animal health professionals with concise and authoritative information on diseases and management of food-producing, companion, laboratory, and exotic animals. The new 11th edition in print and the expanded content on this site carry on this proud tradition. The contents of the MVM are also available as an app for handheld devices, providing enhanced capability to quickly access needed information.
Although the contents of the book have expanded with each edition, the MVM remains true to its original objective: a concise, easy-to-use, comprehensive reference that covers the diversity of species and animal diseases worldwide. Coverage is straightforward and practical, with explicit recommendations given for treatment whenever possible. The succinct discussions also serve to give readers a strong foundation for seeking out and understanding more detailed information available elsewhere.
The MVM covers all the basics, but it is also often relied on for areas not commonly encountered in the daily routine of most animal health professionals. This is no more evident than in the growing role of veterinarians in today's environment, in which general practitioners and specialists alike must practice awareness and vigilance in recognizing the impact of the international movement of animals, maintaining a safe food supply, and minimizing the spread of infectious animal disease and the threat of zoonoses.
The MVM also remains committed to engaging and serving the educational needs of users in various ways through multiple social media sites, working relationships with students, partnership activity to increase use and availability of our content, and exploring new avenues to offer additional multimedia and other tools.
Production
As always, we are deeply grateful to the authors and reviewers who have contributed to the current and past editions of the MVM. The 11th print edition of the MVM (and its full contents on this website) is an extensive collaboration of the MVM Editorial Board and nearly 400 veterinary experts from academia, industry, government, research organizations, and specialty practices, representing more than 20 countries worldwide. It is only through their dedication to animal health and their efforts and willingness to share their time and expertise that the MVM is possible. In particular, this version of the MVM was greatly enhanced and shaped by the efforts of the former Editor-in-Chief, Susan Aiello, DVM, ELS. We thank her for her tireless efforts on behalf of the MVM over many years.
The MVM content is continually updated and expanded online. Updated topics are routinely listed on our home page and on various social media.
What’s New
The new, 11th print edition, released July 2016, was completely updated and revised from the previous edition to continue to address the many diverse aspects of veterinary medicine. The website mirrors the 11th edition, but with greatly expanded multimedia, enhanced interactive content and tools, reference links, and more.
A new section is dedicated to public health, covering public health functions and agencies, epidemiologic principles, disease outbreak investigations, food safety, and the extensive table of zoonoses that has been part of the MVM since the first edition.
Other significant new information has been added on heart disease, diagnostic imaging, emergency medicine, wound management, and pharmacology, including drug resistance. The expanding area of aquaculture is reflected in new chapters on aquaculture, aquatic systems, and aquarium fish. Veterinary responsibilities under the new Veterinary Feed Directive rule are also summarized. Additional timely new topics have been added throughout, covering subjects as diverse as backyard poultry, equine arboviral encephalomyelitis, neonatal management, smoke inhalation, rhodococcosis, scorpion bites, spider flies, xylitol toxicity, toxicologic hazards in the workplace, and the human-animal bond and service animals. And as medical knowledge of exotic and laboratory animals continues to increase, so does the MVM’s coverage of birds, rabbits, reptiles, rodents, fish, and other nontraditional pets.