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Infections Population & Pub. Health PtA (VETS90066)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 25On Campus (Parkville)
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
About this subject
Contact information
Semester 1
Subject Coordinator: Prof James Gilkerson (jrgilk@unimelb.edu.au)
Unit 1 Veterinary Microbiology, Immunology and Virology -
- Prof James Gilkerson (jrgilk@unimelb.edu.au)
Unit 2 Veterinary Parasitology A -
- Dr Abdul Jabbar (jabbara@unimelb.edu.au)
Unit 3 Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology A -
- Prof Mark Stevenson (mark.stevenson1@unimelb.edu.au)
Unit 4 Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology -
- Dr Marc Marenda (mmarenda@unimelb.edu.au)
Unit 5 Veterinary Parasitology B -
- Dr Rebecca Traub (rebecca.traub@unimelb.edu.au)
Unit 6 Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology B -
- Assoc Prof Jo Devlin (devlinj@unimelb.edu.au)
Overview
| Availability | Semester 1 |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
This subject introduces students to the study of infectious agents as causes of disease in animals. It includes as appropriate, taxonomic and life cycle considerations of arthropods, nematodes, trematodes and cestodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria and viruses; the host-parasite interaction and the pathogenesis of disease, disease transmission and epidemiology, methods of diagnosis of infectious disease as well as vaccination and treatment. This understanding is then applied to the public health and food safety context where the focus is on promotion and protection of human health; and to the herd or flock level, where the multifactorial nature of disease is reviewed, and techniques for measurement and prediction of disease prevalence and population health are introduced.
Intended learning outcomes
At the completion of this subject students should be able to:
- Understand the important biological characteristics of infectious agents that cause disease in animals
- Understand how the immune system protects animals against pathogens
- Explain how infectious agents exert their pathogenic effects and produce clinical signs of disease
- Describe the distribution of infectious agents in nature and the methods of their spread amongst animals
- Describe the principles of therapeutic and non therapeutic control measures used to treat, limit or prevent infectious diseases
- Apply an understanding of distribution of infectious agents and disease transmission to the context of public health and food safety
- Appreciate the multifactorial nature of disease
- Explain how disease is measured and predicted in populations of animals
- Describe how clinical trials are designed
- Explain how the spread of disease is controlled
- Isolate and identify a range of infectious agents
- Recognise lesions associated with specific infectious diseases
- Describe the roles of veterinarians in contributing to public health through their involvement in animal production and management, food safety management, humane slaughter of livestock for food and disease outbreak investigations
Generic skills
- Have a broad knowledge of science across a range of fields, with an in-depth understanding in one scientific discipline
- Understand the scientific method, and the history and evolution of scientific concepts
- Be intellectually curious and apply a rigorous, critical and logical approach to enquiry
- Be able to communicate their ideas effectively in both written and verbal formats to both specialists and non-specialists
- Reach a high level of achievement in writing, generic research activities, problem-solving and communication
- Be efficient managers of information
- Apply technology to the analysis of biological problems
Last updated: 3 November 2022