Veterinary epidemiology in New Zealand: a 50-year perspective

Authors: Jackson R
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 50, Issue 3 Supplement, pp 13-16, Jun 2002
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Cattle, Companion animal, General, Livestock, Pig, Production animal, Ruminant, Sheep
Subject Terms: Biosecurity, Disease control/eradication, Epidemiology, History, Veterinary profession
Article class: Review Article

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Abstract: The science of epidemiology is still developing although some of its principal tenets, such as identification of risk factors through comparisons of rates of disease occurrence among population sub-groups of individuals, have been used for centuries. The past 50 years has seen a particularly rapid period of growth of the discipline that has become almost exponential, especially since microcomputers and powerful analytical programs became widely available in the 1980s. The most outstanding advance has arguably been the development of causal criteria that arose from the fierce debate about links between smoking and lung cancer. The philosophical concepts of associations between cause and effect that are embodied in causal criteria now underpin epidemiological practice for scientific evaluation of evidence. Veterinary epidemiology has advanced at a similar pace to its human counterpart but has retained its own identity through applications more suited to herds and flocks and that take into account the different choices that are available for disease control. A broad definition of epidemiology is that branch of empirical science that deals with occurrence of disease, control of disease being its basic purpose. This definition embraces…

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