Information for students of 2nd year of Veterinary Medicine (English course)

Veterinary Epidemiology:

Veterinary Epidemiology course is realized on IV semester (summer) and covers 45 didactic hours in total.

Frontal lectures will be blocked and realized on three consecutive Saturdays, i.e. 7th March, 14th March and 21st March from 13.00 to 16.45 in the room no 360 (third floor) at Innovative Centre for Pathology and Therapy (Veterinary Clinics, Gleboka 30 St. 20-612 Lublin).

Practical classes are obligatory and are in weekly intervals during 15 consecutive weeks, 1,5 h each. Classes are realized each Friday from 11.00 to 12.30 in the room no 360 (third floor) according timetable (see below). The first classes are on 6th March. Classes comprise both theoretical and practical part. After short theoretical introduction students solve practical problems using computer programs.

To complete the course students have to attend lectures and classes and pass written examination, which includes both theoretical and practical questions.

Detailed description of topics is available in Syllabuses.

Person responsible for the subject “Veterinary Epidemiology”:

Professor Zbigniew Grądzki, e-mail:
Department of Epizootiology and Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Person responsible for lectures:

Professor Jarosław Kaba
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences

Persons responsible for realizing classes:

Marcin Kalinowski, DVM, PhD, e-mail:
Krzysztof Buczek, DVM, PhD, e-mail:
Department of Epizootiology and Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, room no. 322 or 319 (third floor) at Innovative Centre for Pathology and Therapy.

Schedule of classes

6 March Basic epidemiological concepts I. Definition of disease. Classification of diseases. Definition and fields of epidemiology.
13 March  Basic epidemiological concepts II. Emergence and course of diseases in population I. Etiology of diseases. Patterns of disease occurrence.
20 March Emergence and course of diseases in population II. Etiology of diseases. Patterns of disease occurrence.
27 March Occurrence of diseases in population. Population and its characteristic. Epidemiological measures describing development of diseases in population and influence exerted by diseases on population.
3 April Diagnostic tests I. Definition of a diagnostic test. True and false test results. Sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests.
17 April Diagnostic tests II. Predictive values of test results. Cut-off point and methods of its determination. ROC curve. Reliability of diagnostic tests.
24 April Diagnostic tests III. Comparison of diagnostic tests. Multiple testing.
8 May Disease surveys I. Basics of disease surveys. Methods of sampling.
15 May  Disease surveys II. Determination of sample size.
22 May Observational studies I. Classification of observational studies. Retrospective and prospective studies. Cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies.
29 May Observational studies II. Determination of relationship between hypothesized risk factor and disease. Evaluation of direction and strength of the relationship.
5 June   Basics of disease control. Organization of animal disease control. Monitoring. Surveillance. Disease control schemes. Contingency plans.
12 June Final test


Recommended books for self-learning

  1. Thrusfield M. (2007) Veterinary Epidemiology. Blackwell Science
  2. Noordhuizen J.P.T.M., Frankena K., Thrusfield M., Graat E.A.M. (2001) Application of Quantitative Methods in Veterinary Epidemiology. Wageningen Pers
  3. Smith R.D. (1995) Veterinary Clinical Epidemiology. CRC Press