Course overview

This part-time degree programme caters for the broader needs of those candidates who would like to acquire information on such aspects as the epidemiology, diagnosis and control/eradication of infectious and parasitic diseases of domestic animals and wildlife or would like to develop specific technical knowledge and skills that are required to make a diagnosis in microbiology (e.g. bacteriology, virology, immunology), parasitology (e.g. helminthology, ectoparasitology, protozoology) and molecular biology laboratories. The programme comprises various modules that can also be taken for non-degree purposes in support of the continuing professional development (CPD) of a candidate.

The curriculum of the degree programme includes 46 diseases that are notifiable to the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the World Organization for Animal Health's classification of economically important diseases. It excludes only those that affect poultry and those livestock diseases that are of rare occurrence. All aspects of the diseases are discussed in detail with the emphasis on the potential that they may have to spread to other countries of the world where they either have been eradicated, often at great cost, or have not previously occurred.