1. Introduction Karl Sigmund, Maurice W. Sabelis, Ulf Dieckmann and J. A. J. Metz; Part I. Setting the Stage: 2. Alternative transmission modes and the evolution of virulence Paul W. Ewald and Guilio De Leo; 3. Wildlife perspectives on the evolution of virulence Guilio De Leo, Andy Dobson and Andy Goodman; 4. Adaptive dynamics of pathogen-host interactions Ulf Dieckmann; 5. Dilemmas in virulence management Minus van Baalen; Part II. Host Population Structure: 6. Variation in susceptibility: lessons from an insect virus Greg Dwyer, Jonathan Dushoff, Joseph S. Elkinton, John P. Burand and Simon A. Levin; 7. Contact networks and the evolution of virulence Minus van Baalen; 8. Virulence on the edge: a source-sink perspective Robert D. Holt and Michael E. Hochberg; Part III. Within-Host Interactions: 9. Super- and coinfection: the two extremes Martin Nowak and Karl Sigmund; 10. Super- and coinfection: filling the range Frederick Adler and Julio Mosquero Losada; 11. Multiple infection and its consequences for virulence management Sylvain Gandon and Yannis Michalakis; 12. Kin selection models as evolutionary explanations of malaria Andrew F. Read, Margaret J. Mackinnon, M. Ali Anwar and Louise H. Taylor; Part IV. Pathogen-Host Coevolution: 13. Coevolution of virus and host cell death signals David C. Krakauer; 14. Biogeographical perspectives on arms races Michael E. Hochberg and Robert D. Holt; 15. Major histocompatability complex: polymorphism from coevolution Joost B. Beltman, Jose A. M. Borghans and Rob J. de Boer; 16. Virulence management and disease resistance in diploid hosts Viggo Andreasen; 17. Coevolution in gene-for-gene systems Akira Sasaki; 18. Implications of sexual selection for virulence management Claus Wedekind; 19. Molecular phylogenies and virulence evolution Bruce Rannala; Part V. Multilevel Selection: 20. Weakened from within: intragenomic conflict and virulence Rolf F. Hoekstra and Alfons J. M. Debets; 21. Ecology and evolution of chestnut blight fungus Douglas R. Taylor; 22. Evolution of exploitation and defense in tritrophic interactions Maurice W. Sabelis, Minus van Baalen, Bas Pels, Martijn Egas and Arne Janssen; Part VI. Vaccines and Drugs: 23. Managing antibiotic resistance Sebastian Bonhoeffer; 24. Evolution of vaccine-resistant strains of infectious agents Angela McLean; 25. Pathogen evolution: the case of malaria Sunetra Gupta; 26. Vaccination and serotype replacement Marc Lipsitch; Part VII. Perspectives for Virulence Management: 27. Taking stock: relating theory to experiment Maurice W. Sabelis and Johan A. J. Metz; 28. Virulence management in humans Paul W. Ewald; 29. Virulence management in wildlife populations Guilio De Leo and Andy Dobson; 30. Virulence management in veterinary epidemiology Mart C. M. de Jong and Luc L. G. Janss; 31. Virulence management in plant-pathogen interactions Andrew M. Jarosz; 32. Management of virulence in biocontrol agents Sam L. Elliot, Maurice W. Sabelis and Frederick R. Adler; 33. Epilogue Ulf Dieckmann, Karl Sigmund, Maurice W. Sabelis and Johan A. J. Metz.