More than three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases that affect humans are zoonotic. In the past two decades, outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, swine influenza, avian influenza, West Nile virus, SARS CoV-2 — and others — have occurred around the world. Other established infections, such as malaria and dengue, continue to be a global concern.
The emergence of antibiotic resistance to infections – particularly in hospital settings – creates a public health blind spot, while emerging and re-emerging infectious zoonotic agents continue to grow at alarming speed.
Why Penn Vet
We have one of the largest zoonotic disease programs in the nation, rooted in our extensive faculty network and distinctive geography. Penn Vet’s campus in Philadelphia neighbors the University of Pennsylvania’s twelve schools, including the medical and nursing schools, and the School of Arts and Sciences. Our New Bolton Center campus is surrounded by a region densely populated with dairy farms and agriculture. This topography brings Penn’s scientists together with incredible resources spurring cross-disciplinary collaboration to tackle monumental challenges, from chronic and fatal disease to biosecurity and antimicrobial stewardship, to climate change.
Penn Vet is a valuable partner to industry, specifically to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System, as well as to several leading regional and national laboratory networks and health commissions.
