Class Epidemiology

The etymological origin of the word epidemiology shows that it results from the combination of three words: EPI (about); DEMOS (population; LOGIA (study). Thus, the objective of epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases and health factors in populations and the application of this study to its control. Epidemiology as an area of ¿¿knowledge in the field of veterinary medicine it is associated with the prevention of animal and human disease, since it also focuses on zoonotic diseases, which are diseases transmissible from animals to humans.The contents taught will provide students with fundamental concepts and skills in the prevention, control and eradication of disease.

1. Basic concepts in epidemiology and its application, causality.

2. Disease transmission in populations: routes of transmission, latent and incubation periods, infected, susceptible and immune populations,  epidemiologic triad and herd immunity.

3. Measures of disease frequency: prevalence and incidence (rate vs. risk), mortality measures.

4. Epidemiologic studies: sample size, design and implementation, data collection and analysis. Validity of an epidemiologic study.

5. Screening and diagnostic tests: sensitivity e specificity, positive and negative predictive value, real and apparent prevalence.

6. Disease outbreak investigation: detections and confirmation of an outbreak, case definition and systematic identification, descriptive analysis and hypothesis generation, cause identification, control measures and elimination of the outbreak.

7. Types of disease surveillance systems: active, passive, risk-based and sentinel.

8. Concepts of biosecurity.

In addtion to the classes it will be made availble for the students the following contents in order to suplmente the learning process:

- movies;

- documentaries;

- mobile applications

Also, it will be required to critical analyze a research paper.

• Toma, B., Doufour, B., Sanaa, M., Bénet, J.J., Moutou, F., Louzã, A., Ellis, P. (1996). Epidemiologia aplicada à luta colectiva contra as principais doenças animais transmíssiveis. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa.

• Gordis, L. (2010). Epidemiologia. 4 Ed. Lusodidacta, Lisboa.

• Thrusfield, M. (1991). Veterinary Epidemiology. 2a.Ed. Blackwell Science, London.

• Ian Dohoo,, Wayne Martin, Henryk Stryhn. Veterinary Epidemiology Research, 2nd edition.