Welcome to the Surveillance of Zoonotic Pathogens in Animals!

image: http://www.farmfoundation.org/

Welcome! Dr. Wells, Dr. Gill, and I intend to discuss some of the aspects of investigating zoonotic pathogens in animal populations, especially as it relates to surveillance systems. We will try to explore these topics through the use of case studies.

Just to review, "zoonotic" pertains to "zoonoses" or those diseases that animals can transmit to humans, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), more commonly referred to as "mad cow disease" or "bird flu," respectively.

The blog will be a platform to enter in your daily journal assignments, that is, to write down any major points that came up during lecture that you thought were important to remember or interesting to you, as well as, to raise questions that you thought were not discussed during the lecture. We will make our best efforts to discuss the blog in class or to provide feedback directly on this blog.