Vector-Borne Diseases: Bridging Scale

The 2018 ACVP-ASIP Symposium will be held on April 24 in San Diego, CA concurrent with the Experimental Biology 2018. This year the symposium topic is “Vector-Borne Diseases: Bridging Scale” and is co-chaired by A. Sally Davis, DVM, PhD, Assistant Professor of Experimental Pathology, Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University and Nicole Gottdenker, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.

Vector-borne diseases are responsible for a significant fraction of the global infectious disease burden. Nearly half the world’s human population is infected by at least one type of vector-borne pathogen. Vector-borne animal diseases disrupt ecosystems and reduce agricultural productivity and as a result profoundly restrict economic development in countries with the highest infection rates, mainly those located in the tropics and subtropics. Recent global changes have further magnified the impact of vector-borne diseases

We will take a hierarchical approach to the study of vector borne diseases. Starting first with pathogenesis and host response to a representative vector borne virus (within the host), we will move on to an examination of virus-vector-host interactions (host-vector interface), then onto considerations of the role of the wider ecosystem in vector borne disease transmission at the local and regional level. Finally, we will analyze impact of global changes on vector borne disease ecology.

 

Symposium Speakers (click links for further detail):

• Dr. Lieza Odendaal, BVSc, BVSc (Hons), MSc (Vet Sc), Lecturer, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Veterinary Faculty, University of Pretoria, South Africa, who is currently completing a PhD in Rift Valley fever virus pathogenesis research at the University of Pretoria, will present “Tissue and Cellular Tropism of Rift Valley fever virus in sheep.”
• Dr. Barbara Drolet, Phd, Research Microbiologist at the Arthropod Borne Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Manhattan, KS, will present “Virus – Vector – Host Interactions in Vector-Borne Diseases.”
• Dr. Nicole Gottdenker, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Associate Professor Anatomic Pathology, Department of Pathology, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, will present “Chagas disease transmission in Fragmented Forest Landscapes.”
• Dr. Courtney Murdock, PhD, Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the Odum School of Ecology and the Infectious Disease Department, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, will close with “Experimental Approaches to Studying Impacts of Global Climate Change on Mosquito-Borne Disease Transmission.”

We look forward to seeing you at this exciting session!