EPIC - The Scottish Government's Centre of Excellence in Epidemiology, Population Health and Disease Control

EPIC Module 1

EPIC Module 1 is elaborating advanced approaches to diagnostic testing, test validation and test interpretation for estimation of disease prevalence, policy advice and field application. EPIC Module 1 is also working on generic risk based surveillance procedures for selected diseases in Scotland, and development of robust methods for integrating socioeconomic and quantitative risk assessments, applied to the control of livestock diseases.

EPIC Module 2

EPIC Module 2 is establishing the use of molecular typing of pathogens in studying the epidemiology of livestock infectious diseases. Initially the work is focused on the molecular epidemiology of Pasteurella multocida, and a field study with sampling of beef and dairy farms throughout Scotland has been undertaken. At a later stage, the plan is to extend the molecular epidemiology capacity of EPIC Module 2 to parasitic diseases.

EPIC Module 3

EPIC Module 3 is oriented to establish a generic framework for quantifying the contribution of different modes of transmission to the spread of livestock infectious diseases, and to use the applications developed to specific infections in Scottish livestock to inform decisions about possible interventions.

EPIC Module 4

EPIC Module 4 is developing spatial models of spread of livestock diseases in Scotland, and quantifying spatial and temporal variation in the risks of diseases in relation to environmental heterogeneity. The ultimate goal is to predict the risks and spread of diseases under scenarios of current environmental change, and inform policy accordingly.

EPIC Module 5

EPIC Module 5 is developing and evaluating methods of statistical inference for models of animal infection dynamics, in particular, allowing for heterogeneity in the host population, and applying these methods to pathogens relevant to Scottish agriculture.