UNA4CAREER
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement Nยบ 847635.
920033 Health Surveillance
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
The group’s main objective is health surveillance under the focus of a one health Its research lines are focused on the surveillance and control of animal diseases especially zoonoses and those subject to eradication programs (e.g. new strategies on the diagnosis and control of tuberculosis), the protection of food safety (e.g. food-borne diseases), the safeguard of public health (e.g. antibiotic resistance surveillance and control programs), the monitoring of pathogen-host-environment interaction (e.g. emerging disease) and the quantitative epidemiology for diseases of importance in animal in public health. To achieve these objectives, a multidisciplinary group has been formed with references in each of the work areas. Among non-academic collaborators, the Carlos III Health Institute, The Center for Animal Health Research of the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology, and the Institute for Cynegetic and Wildlife Research, stand out.
The research group is located in VISAVET Centre that has laboratories located in different areas of biological containment, designed and built to work with infectious agents at risk, in a completely safe for staff working in them and the community around them. With a total area of 2700 m2 has three distinct areas: a: Biosafety level 2 Area or BSL-2: It has laboratories and necropsy room specifically designed for the analysis of biological agents in Group 2 (RD 664/1997). b: Biosafety level 3 Area or BSL-3: It has BSL-3 biosafety laboratories and BSL-3 necropsy room working with biological agents listed in Risk Group 3 (former OIE List A). This area has also a ABSL-3 animal facilities with three individual boxes with air conditioning and independent access to allow the simultaneous performance of different assays and controls. C: Cleanroom Area.
The proposed projects are within the following research topics: diagnosis, molecular epidemiology and control of tuberculosis, diagnosis of other mycobacteriosis, immunopathology of tuberculosis in domestic and wild animals, antimicrobial resistances in pathogens, food-borne zoonotic agents and indicators, genetic characterization of antimicrobial resistance, genetic characterization of microorganisms populations, foodborne zoonoses in animals and meat, eggs and other products from animal origin intended for human consumption, Molecular characterization of human reservoirs potentially pathogenic Escherichia coli, animal and environmental, genetic characterization of Campylobacter, modification of intestinal microbiota – healthy gut, application of MALDI-TOF technique in the clinical microbiology and agri-food field, MALDI-TOF profiling and imaging, characterization of the emergence of foodborne pathogens subjected to surveillance and monitoring programs through quantitative epidemiology, evaluation of the performance of diagnostic tests for diseases of importance in animal health and assessment of their application in the frame of control and surveillance programs, proliferative and non proliferative lesions of the gastrointestinal tract in small animals, forensic veterinary, diagnosis of leishmaniasis in the animal reservoir, epidemiological surveillance of zoonotic tick-borne pathogens, new diagnostic methods design, preventive medicine, characterization of the emergence of foodborne pathogens subjected to surveillance and monitoring programs through quantitative epidemiology, evaluation of the performance of diagnostic tests for diseases of importance in animal health and assessment of their application in the frame of control and surveillance program.
