Savage

Question 1

___________ is the process of understanding links between ideas, determining the importance and relevance of arguments and ideas, recognizing, building, and appraising arguments, identifying inconsistencies and errors in reasoning, approaching problems in systematic way, and reflecting of the justification of their own assumptions, beliefs, and values.

Answer 1

critical thinking

Question 2

___________ is when you are thinking of possible solution and you consider the impact on the entire system.

Answer 2

systems thinking

Question 3

T/F: Most of the time, the issue arises within the system rather than a specific individual/event/issue. Therefore, we must address the root cause of a problem in order to fix it.

Answer 3

true

Question 4

How does systems thinking relate to veterinary medicine?

Answer 4

one health – an integrated systems-level approach to research, education, and development that seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of human and animal populations, support sustainable ecosystems, and achieve socioeconomic security.
when we develop solutions to problems, we MUST consider the impact it will have on the entire system (health, resources, politics, and economic consequences).

Question 5

What is a wicked problem?

Answer 5

a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are difficult to recognize. Because of the complex interdependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems.
ex. climate change

Question 6

What are the 2 fundamental concepts of systems thinking and infectious diseases?

Answer 6

1. complexity
2. entirety

Question 7

What are the 4 system components?

Answer 7

1. pathogens / parasites
2. vector species
3. human populations
4. natural, social, and behavioral environments

Question 8

Why is it important that we have a systems thinking approach and understand the entire complexity of infectious diseases and all of the components of the system?

Answer 8

so that we can have EARLY identification of the components, and EARLIER, SYSTEMATIC interventions to reduce the effects and perhaps predict future occurrences for prevention.

Question 9

T/F: with a systems thinking approach, we can solve problems immediately.

Answer 9

false – it does not automatically solve problems, rather it helps reframe how we are viewing the problem and what the potential solutions may look like.

Question 10

What are the 3 questions you must ask AFTER you have established that an outbreak is occurring?

Answer 10

1. where did the disease come from?
2. what management factors allowed it to spread
3. where did it spread from here?

Question 11

If you see the following things, you should be suspicious of what?
1. high morbidity and/or mortality
2. severe abortion storms of unknown etiology
3. severe respiratory conditions
4. vesicular lesions
5. pox or lumpy skin conditions
6. poor or no response to treatment when expected
7. atypical findings at necropsy
8. history of foreign travel, visitors, or parcels

Answer 11

foreign animal disease

Question 12

Once you report a FAD, what is the first thing to occur?

Answer 12

a trained Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostician will be sent to the premise within 24 hours

Question 13

These 4 steps are critical for what?
1. get a diagnosis
2. determine and control the source
3. stop transmission
4. eliminate the disease

Answer 13

management of disease outbreak

Question 14

Why are potential sources of disease often overlooked?

Answer 14

people usually focus on animal/herd of concern and this may miss other potential sources and lead to reinfection if not addressed or failure to control the disease

You should look at multiple different sources: purchases, contact, humans/fomites, reservoir hosts, international travel, etc.

Question 15

How can you stop transmission of disease after you have determined the source?

Answer 15

ideally, you would want to know the route of transmission for the disease (transplacental, feco-oral, aerosol, etc.)
Prevent exposure in MOST susceptible/highest risk individuals because they are the biggest threat.

Stop/prevent sales, contact, humans, and spillover to wild populations.

Question 16

How should you handle the most susceptible/highest risk individuals when attempting to limit transmission/spread of disease during an outbreak?

Answer 16

prevent exposure (separate, isolate)
increase surveillance in this population
consider vaccinating (if appropriate)

Question 17

Who is considered the most susceptible / highest risk individuals in a brucellosis outbreak?

Answer 17

first-calf, pregnant heifers
we know this disease is spread via infective calving or abortion, so we should split the pens into 2 so that less cows are exposed during calving periods (minimize the animals at risk).

Question 18

What is the ultimate goal of a surveillance program?

Answer 18

to detect and isolate or remove potentially infected animals BEFORE they transmit the disease any further.

target is usually high-risk animals

Question 19

Why are incubation periods important during an outbreak investigation /management?

Answer 19

helps you to define the potential time of introduction
tells you which animals are likely exposed
helps to determine if you have eliminated the disease

Question 20

What does pregnancy do to the incubation period of brucellosis and why is this important?

Answer 20

pregnancy shortens the incubation period
this is important for testing schedules!
the incubation period of brucellosis is typically around 30 days, but if pregnant (and esp if heifer) it can be 2 weeks to 2 months. So, if a farmer is testing his cows for this disease, they might be missing opportunities to break the transmission cycle by testing when the animal is not showing a positive result.

Question 21

Describe the concept of “infective dose”

Answer 21

infective dose refers to the amount of organism that causes infection. So, if you have increased dose of certain pathogen, you can have increased infectivity and transmission.

Question 22

If you can manage an outbreak by decreasing the infective dose, what would you do specifically in a brucellosis outbreak?

Answer 22

1. calving management
2. remove contaminated material
3. clean and disinfect

Question 23

___________ is a tool to monitor disease trends, to facilitate the control of disease or infection, to provide data for use in risk analysis, for animal or public health purposes, and to substantiate the rationale for sanitary measures.

Answer 23

disease surveillance

Question 24

______________ is the continuous systemic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data needed for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice.

Answer 24

WHO public health surveillance

Question 25

T/F: we should have surveillance programs active on as many impending public health issues as possible in order to monitor the various diseases that could arise at any time point.

Answer 25

false – we should not do surveillance unless we have a plan for action and carry out that action.

Question 26

In contrast to surveillance, monitoring does NOT imply what…

Answer 26

that action will be taken.

monitoring is simply making observations and measuring an impact of an intervention.

Question 27

T/F: surveillance is essential for diseases that are under a formal program and is generally more targeted than monitoring.

Answer 27

true

Question 28

Why do surveillance programs require action?

Answer 28

because we would not want to spend resources on surveillance programs if there werent going to be any outcome, that would be wasteful

Question 29

Which of the following is NOT a purpose of surveillance?
a. detect disease or infection
b. monitor disease trends
c. facilitate control of disease
d. support claims of freedom from disease
e. provide an overview of disease occurrence
f. provide data for risk analysis and sanitary measures

Answer 29

e. provide an overview for disease occurrence

this falls under ‘monitoring’ as opposed to surveillance

Question 30

Taking data on polio cases worldwide, you see a downward trend of cases from 1980-2001. What is this surveillance program detecting/evaluating?

Answer 30

the competency of control measures (in this case, the eradication program)

once political will and resources increases, there was action globally that decreased cases

Question 31

The following are examples of what type of surveillance?
- producer/practitioner reporting
- syndromic surveillance (clinic, livestock markets, wildlife centers and zoos)
- FSIS condemnation data
- electronic database searches

Answer 31

passive surveillance

Question 32

The following describes what type of surveillance?
- mass screening
- biosensors
- strategic targeting of high-risk populations

Answer 32

active surveillance

Question 33

_____________ surveillance uses differing intensities of testing or sample collection depending on the perceived risk or threat. This surveillance should specifically target the groups or populations with high projected risk.

Answer 33

hierarchal/targeted

Question 34

____________ surveillance is reporting of health events by health professionals who are selected to represent a geographic area or specific reporting group. this can be active or passive.

Answer 34

sentinel

Question 35

_________ surveillance focuses on one or more symptoms rather than a physician or veterinary-diagnosed or lab-diagnosed disease.

Answer 35

syndromic

Question 36

What are the 3 components of a classic action plan for disease control and eradication?

Answer 36

1. find the problem using surveillance
2. contain/prevent spread from infected animals
3. eradicate/eliminate the disease

Question 37

T/F: effective surveillance is brief and to the point. It is most successful when one method is used to pinpoint the issue so that eradication efforts can be focused.

Answer 37

false – effective surveillance programs must be ongoing and often utilize multiple methods

Question 38

what are the 5 critical elements of a surveillance system?

Answer 38

1. population of interest
2. case definition
3. time frame
4. epidemiologic unit
5. analytical methodologies

Question 39

T/F: populations for which there are no record of disease are assumed/considered to have no disease

Answer 39

false - you cannot say a population/place is free of disease unless they have been actually tested and the results were negative.