35474 - Infectious Diseases of Companion Animals

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student acquired: - knowledge about the etiology, epidemiology, symptomatology, diagnosis and control of infectious diseases of companion animals; - the ability to apply this knowledge in the interpretation of clinical cases; - to able to make judgments and estimates health care even if they have incomplete data; - to able to manage and communicate information to both specialists to non-specialists in the field; - to achieve a high level of operational capacity in the control of diseases in the context of multicat/dog environment.

Course contents

The course of Infectious Diseases of Companion Animals is a component of the I.C. "Communicable diseases and epidemiology".

The educational objective of the I.C. is to: a) provide basic knowledge relating to veterinary epidemiology and the correlations to the other veterinary disciplines; b) to provide knowledge relating to the etiology, epidemiology, symptoms, diagnosis and prophylaxis of the main transmissible pathologies of livestock and companion animals; c) acquire the ability to apply this knowledge in the interpretation of health data and in the management of direct and indirect prophylaxis. At the end of the I.C.: a) the student will be able to make judgments and health assessments even with incomplete data; b) will be able to manage and communicate information to both specialists and non-specialists in the subject; c) will achieve a high operational capacity in the control of diseases.

Knowledge and skills to be acquired

The goal of the "Infectious Diseases of Companion Animals" course is to provide solid knowledge on the main infectious diseases that affect dogs and cats. For this purpose, each disease will be treated according to the classic study model of an infectious disease: historical notes, characteristics of the etiological agents, epidemiological aspects (geographical spread, animals hosts, mode of transmission), pathogenesis, symptoms, anatomical-pathological lesions, diagnosis (clinical, differential, laboratory, direct and indirect), prophylaxis (direct and indirect). At the end of the course, students will be able to: - recognize the clinical signs of the main infectious diseases of dogs and cats and draw up a list of diagnostic-differential hypotheses; - implement a diagnostic protocol to confirm the suspicion of an infectious disease; - apply the control and prevention strategies of infectious diseases during an epidemic outbreak; - identify and adapt the vaccination protocol according to the epidemiological risk related to the environment, geographic area and lifestyle;

30 hours frontal lessons:

Infectious diseases of dog :

• Canine parvovirus (4h)
• Canine Distemper (3h)
• Leptospirosis (4h)
• Canine Infectious Hepatitis (1h)

Infectious diseases of cat:

• Feline Panleukopenia (2h)
• Feline Infectious Peritonitis (2h)
• Feline Respiratory Upper Disease (Feline Herpesvirus, Feline Calicivirus, Chlamydophila felis) (4h)
• Feline Leukemia (4h)
• Feline Immunodeficiency (2h)

Guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats (2h)

The Syllabus of the course unit and the list of EAEVE Day One Competences that the course unit contributes to achieving can be viewed on the dedicated page [http://corsi.unibo.it/singlecycle/VeterinaryMedicine/course-units-syllabi-and-day-one-competences].

Readings/Bibliography

Slides of the lectures are available on Virtual Learning Enviroment of Unibo

https://virtuale.unibo.it/

Recommended text:

Greene's Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat 5th Edition - March 15, 2022 – Jane Sykes.

Testi consigliati:

Greene's Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat 5th Edition - March 15, 2022 – a cura di Jane Sykes.

Malattie infettive degli animali - a cura di M. Fadda, V. Cuteri, P. Dall'Ara, G. Iovane, F. Marsilio. Ed. Point Veterinaire Italie, 2023.

Vaccini e vaccinazioni degli animali da compagnia - P. Dall'Ara. II Ed. Edra, 2024.

Teaching methods

The course comprises academic (frontal) lectures, and practical lectures.

The course is made of academic (frontal - 30 hours) and practical lessons (6 hours).

a. academic (frontal): Frontal lectures carried out by slides show and watching of movies;

b. practical (tutorial supervised or hands on): Practical lectures carried out by groups of student with discussion of clinical cases under the supervision of a tutor (problem solving approach). Emphasis on collection and conservation of biological samples and implementation of a protocol laboratory diagnosis will done. Vaccination protocols will be discussed.

Assessment methods

The final grade for the integrated course “Communicable Diseases and Epidemiology” is based on the grades obtained in the individual course units, which are weighted equally. The lecturer responsible for recording the final grade for the integrated course is Prof. Fabio Ostanello.

Assessment for the course unit “Infectious Diseases of Companion Animals” consists of a written examination.

Written examination for the course unit “Infectious Diseases of Companion Animals”

The written examination is designed to assess the student’s knowledge of the topics covered during the course, as well as their ability to apply this knowledge to the interpretation of clinical cases.

The examination consists of 22 closed-ended questions:

• 9 multiple-choice questions, each with four options and only one correct answer;

• 7 true/false questions requiring the selection of the correct justification;

• 6 questions based on clinical cases.

For each multiple-choice question, 1 point is awarded for the correct answer. For each true/false question, 1 point is awarded for correctly assessing the statement and 1 point for selecting the correct justification. For questions based on clinical cases, each correct answer is worth 1.5 points. No points are awarded for incorrect or unanswered questions.

The maximum score is 32 points. A minimum score of 18 is required to pass the examination. Any half-points are retained when calculating the average grade for the integrated course. Scores of 30 or above correspond to a grade of 30/30; scores of 31 and 32 may be taken into consideration when determining whether honours should be awarded in the overall assessment of the integrated course. The score obtained contributes to the final grade according to the weighting assigned to the course units that make up the integrated course.

Students have 60 minutes to complete the written examination. The use of supporting materials, including textbooks, notes and electronic devices, is not permitted during the examination.

The use of artificial intelligence tools is prohibited. Any such use constitutes a breach of academic integrity.

A negative assessment does not result in the award of a numerical grade; only a fail result is recorded in the electronic examination record on AlmaEsami and therefore does not affect the student’s academic record.

The result of the written examination will be published on the AlmaEsami platform [https://almaesami.unibo.it/] within five working days of the examination date.

Students are entitled to reject a proposed passing grade at least once, in accordance with Article 16, paragraph 5, of the University Teaching Regulations.

Students can register for examinations through AlmaEsami [http://almaesami.unibo.it/] . Examination dates are scheduled within the periods specified in the academic calendar. Additional examination sessions are reserved for students who are beyond the standard duration of their degree programme.

Students with disabilities or specific learning disorders (SLDs) may contact the course-unit coordinator to request additional learning support both during classes and for the final examination.

Teaching tools

Slide projector for theoretical lessons, movies, computers, smartphone for interactive lessons

During lectures, the game-based learning platform "kahoot" is used to encourage active learning by multiple choice questions to the audience. The software will also be used in the case of "problem solving" practical lessons and for the discussion of clinical cases.

Office hours

See the website of Mara Battilani