Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

The goal of the course is: 1) the training of a professional figure, familiar with major infectious diseases of farm animals, with particular emphasis on zoonotic diseases; 2) to provide students with a basic knowledge of the biology of parasitism and on the pathogenesis of parasitic diseases. In the module of Infectious Diseases, basic epidemiological principles are briefly illustrated, in order to provide the student with the knowledge needed to understand disease transmission and the importance to choose correctly the diagnostic test. For each disease, the pathogenetic mechanism of aetiological agent is discussed and the diagnostic procedures are detailed. The diagnostic aspects of infectious diseases are specifically addressed in practical lessons. The students participate to a visit to a dairy cattle farm, in order to get closer to the field and catch the possible weak points that could be linked to health problems. The module of Parasitic Diseases is focused on selected examples of parasites and diseases, that will be the models on which a general knowledge of the disease will be built. The selection of the parasite models and diseases will be based on the deepness of the bio-molecular investigations, in order to present information that is relevant to a course in biotechnology.

The student will have the technical expertise to correctly perform the diagnosis of major infectious diseases of large animals; the students will also be able to participate in research projects regarding the pathogenetic aspects of infectious diseases, due to his knowledge of most important bacteriological and molecular techniques applied in the field. The student will be also able to describe and interpret the main parasitic relationships and to analyze the biological cycles, the transmission mechanisms and the strategies of coexistence and coevolution of host/parasite .