Course Description

Ecology and evolution of infectious diseases that affect free-living animals, plants and human populations. Topics include pathogen life history and transmission modes, epidemiology and impacts on hosts, evolution of resistance and virulence, emerging infectious diseases, and the role of parasites in wildlife conservation.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Comprehensive problem sets will be distributed each week to all students. Graduate students will be required to complete advanced problems on these assignments that require synthesis of course material in novel ways, such as applying equations given in class to data sets in real-world systems. Graduate students will also be required to synthesize and critique papers from the primary literature each week and provide a short summary to the undergraduate students in small-group discussion settings. On mid-term and final exams, graduate students will be presented with additional questions that require more extensive synthesis and advanced problem-solving skills.

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Athena Title

Population Biol Infect Dis

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Prerequisite

(BIOL 1104 or BIOL 1108 or PBIO 1220) and (STAT 2000 or STAT 2000E or MATH 2200 or MATH 2250 or MATH 2250E)

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Semester Course Offered

Offered spring

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Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

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Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will develop a knowledge base to match important concepts of biology of parasites and infectious diseases with real-world examples.
• Students will increase their ability to apply quantitative approaches to studying infectious disease dynamics at the population level.
• Students will be able to articulate the historical development and current research in the field of disease ecology.
• Students will be able to provide examples of taxonomic and biological diversity of parasitic organisms and host responses to infection.
• Students will be able to explain examples of the importance of parasites in wildlife conservation and management.
• Students will demonstrate, through theory and examples, the role of ecology and evolution in predicting disease emergence and responding to epidemics.

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Topical Outline

• PART 1. THE BASICS: EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PARASITE BIOLOGY Introduction: Basic terminology and diversity of parasites Population growth, population regulation, and statistical epidemiology Population biology of microparasites Rinderpest in the Serengeti, dead seals in the North Sea Measles and childhood diseases: herd immunity and vaccination Parasitic helminths: T.tenuis and red grouse Helminths of humans: Ascaris, filariasis and hookworm Rots, scabs, smut, and blight: the biology of plant pathogens Invertebrate pathology: forest pest cycles and insect mushrooms
• PART 2. ECOLOGICAL HETEROGENEITY Parasites and host behavior It bit me: vector-borne pathogens, ticks and mosquitoes Birds, bees, and STDs Complex dynamics and social mixing Key hosts and superspreaders Patterns of spatial spread Metapopulation biology of disease Community effects and multi-host pathogens Keeping the herds healthy: predators and infectious disease
• PART 3. HOST IMMUNITY AND PATHOGEN EVOLUTION Vertebrate immunity: innate and adaptive Population dynamics of the immune response Immunity and resistance in plants and invertebrates Evolution of host resistance: tradeoffs and constraints Parasites and sexual selection Evolution of pathogen virulence Molecular phylogeny of pathogens Host-parasite coevolution and cospeciation
• PART 4. CONSERVATION, CONTROL, AND EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES Influenza, Ebola, BSE; emergent pathogens and disappearing cures Worms in a warmer world; parasites and global change Evaluating disease risks to threatened wildlife Drug treatment and drug resistance Role of host-pathogen evolution in disease emergence Darwinian medicine

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Institutional Competencies

Analytical Thinking

The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.

Critical Thinking

The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.

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Syllabus

Select Faculty / Instructor to download syllabus:   Altizer, Sonia   Ezenwa, Vanessa   Park, Andrew   Strauss, Alexander

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