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.
Dictionary:
ep·i·zo·ot·ic (ĕp'ĭ-zō-ŏt'ĭk) ![]() |
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.| 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.
| Obscure Words: epizootic |
| 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]
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 | |
![]() | 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 | |
![]() | Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd. Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Epizootic". Read more |