Affecting a large number of animals at the same time within a particular region or geographic area. Used of a disease.
n.An epizootic disease.
epizootically ep'i·zo·ot'i·cal·ly adv.
epizootic
Dictionary:
ep·i·zo·ot·ic (ĕp'ĭ-zō-ŏt'ĭk)  |
| 5min Related Video: epizootic |
| Veterinary Dictionary: epizootic |
A disease which attacks many subjects in a region at the same time but is only occasionally present in the population; when it occurs it is widely diffused and rapidly spreading. The rarely used equivalent of epidemic in veterinary medicine.
- e. cellulitis — see equine viral rhinopneumonitis.
- e. cellulitis-pinkeye — see equine viral arteritis.
- e. chlamydiosis — a disease of rabbits, hares, deer mice, squirrels and muskrats caused by Chlamydophila psittaci M56 serovar and characterized by septicemia, fever, diarrhea.
- e. diarrhea of infant mice — see murine epizootic diarrhea.
- e. hematopoietic necrosis — reported only in Australian redfin perch and rainbow trout; characterized by massive mortalities in juvenile perch but dribbling mortalities in trout; caused by an iridovirus. May have originated in amphibians.
- e. hemorrhagic disease of deer — is caused by an orbivirus antigenically similar to the virus of Ibaraki disease, a bluetongue-like disease of cattle. The disease is clinically similar to bluetongue in sheep and causes very heavy mortalities in deer herds.
- e. hemorrhagic septicemia — see hemorrhagic septicemia.
- e. lymphangitis — a chronic, contagious disease of horses caused by Histoplasma capsulatum var farciminosum (or Blastomyces, Cryptococcus, Saccharomyces, Zymonema). It is characterized by suppurative lymphangitis, lymphadenitis and cutaneous ulcers. Lesions may also occur on the muzzle and nasal mucosa, in the eye causing keratitis, and also in the lungs causing pneumonia. The disease is an important one on its own account but it also has importance because of its similarity to glanders. Called also pseudoglanders.
- e. pneumoenteritis — see chronic respiratory disease. Called also CRD.
- e. ulcerative syndrome — important cause of loss in ornamental fish and foodfish; extensive ulceration causes loss of fins, tail, jaw, and penetrates the abdominal wall. The cause has not been identified.
| Obscure Words: epizootic |
/ep i zo OT ik/ [n] an outbreak of disease affecting many animals of one kind at the same time; also: the disease itself
| Wikipedia: Epizootic |
In epizoology, an epizootic (from Greek epi- upon + zoion animal) is a disease that appears as new cases in a given animal population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is "expected" based on recent experience (i.e. a sharp elevation in the incidence rate). Epidemic is the analogous term applied to human populations. High population density is a major contributing factor to epizootics. Aquaculture is an industry sometimes plagued by disease because of the large number of fish confined to a small area.
Defining an epizootic can be subjective, depending in part on what is "expected". An epizootic may be: a) restricted to a specific locale (an outbreak), b) general (an "epizootic") or c) widespread (panzootic). Because it is based on what is "expected" or thought normal, a few cases of a very rare disease (like a TSE outbreak in a Cervid population) might be classified as an "epizootic," while many cases of a common disease (like lymphocystis in Esocids) would not.
Common diseases that occur at a constant but relatively high rate in the population are said to be "enzootic." An example of an enzootic disease would be the influenza virus in some bird populations [1] or, at a lower incidence, the Type IVb strain of VHS in certain Atlantic fish populations. [2]
An example of an epizootic would be the 1990 outbreak of Newcastle disease virus in double-crested cormorant colonies on the Great Lakes that resulted in the death of some 10,000 birds. [3]
Zambia EUS outbreak
On September 14, 2007, epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS), a mysterious disease killed hundreds of sore-covered fish in River Zambezi. The Agriculture Minister of Zambia, Ben Kapita, asked experts to investigate the outbreak to probe the cause to find out if the disease can be transmitted to humans.[1]
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Epizootic". Read more |
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