Course syllabus
Welcome to the course 3MK014 Infection Biology in a Global Perspective 15hp!
This course is divided into three main parts: Infections in Animals and Humans (230828-230918), Food Safety and Hygiene (230919-231009) and Global Health (231010-231105). Below you can read about each part separately.Registration is done online with your student account via https://www.uu.se/student, in the period of 2023-07-27 - 2022-08-21. If you are unable to register, please send us an email to inf.biol.master@imbim.uu.se before the deadline has passed, and we can help you.
The course starts with a mandatory roll call and introduction session on BMC campus 2023-08-28 in room A9:011b. You should only come to the roll call if you do not have any symptoms of illness, notify us as soon as possible by email if you cannot come.
You will find the course material under Modules. The course will have a mix of on campus and digital teaching.
Here you can find the Course Schedule
A warm welcome to the course!
Jenny, Behdad and Susanne (Head teachers, responsible for the course content)
Sofie and Susanne (Course administrator and Programme coordinator)
Course layout
Part I: Infections in Animals and Humans
During the first three weeks of the semester, you will learn about how wild and domestic animals contribute to the spread of infectious diseases. We hope you are as excited as we are to discuss mosquitoes, ticks, bats, rodents and other animals, and to understand how their biology, behavior, and keeping contribute to the transmission of pathogens. The overall aim of these three weeks is to zoom out from the microorganisms (of which most you have learned about in previous courses), and focus on their transmission and the intricate web of different influencing factors.
The course starts with a mandatory roll call and introduction session on August 28, and thereafter includes:
- Three mandatory seminars (including an oral presentation)
- Lectures
- Vector field sampling and vector identification exercise
- Study visit
- Written exam
Only the roll call/introduction, the seminars and the written exam are mandatory, however we strongly advice you to be present during lectures and the field/identification exercise since all topics discussed are connected to the teaching goals and may also be examined. Also, we have no specific course literature for this course, thus learning relies on what is presented and on literature suggested by the lecturers. All presentations and suggested literature will be published on this site.
Part II. Food Safety and Hygiene at SLU
During the second part of the course, we will discuss food safety and how food hygiene is important to human health. You will learn about the most common foodborne bacteria, viruses and parasites and how to prevent them. Extra attention will be paid to zoonotic microorganisms that may contaminate the meat during slaughter and you will have the opportunity to visit a slaughterhouse. This part will provide knowledge on risks and challenges in the food industry, how investigation is performed in case of a foodborne outbreak, as well as an understanding of risk assessment and how authorities and industry work to ensure safe food.
The introduction (September 19), HACCP presentations and the written exam are mandatory. There will also be case studies and an assignment on outbreak investigation to work with (and complete) during the course. As for the other parts of this course, we strongly encourage you to be present during lectures and field visits (if the pandemic situation allows) since all topics discussed are connected to the teaching goals and may also be examined. There is no specific course literature for this course, thus learning relies on what is presented during lectures and during other learning activities. All presentations and suggested literature will be published on this site.
Part III: Global Health
During this part of the course, we zoom out even further to understand how infectious diseases affect health globally, the drivers that contribute to more disease, and the systems that aim to mitigate it. We will investigate different trade-offs between development goals, and the ethics of research in low and middle-income countries. This course will be very interactive and you will need to think about how we prioritize health hazards and risks, and how to move towards sustainable change.
The only mandatory parts of this course section will be the seminars and presentations, and you will be doing both an examining group assignment and an individual written task.
Syllabus with course literature
Exams
There are two digital written exams on the course, which will be held:
- Infections in Animals and Humans - 2023-09-18
- Food Hygiene and Safety - 2023-10-09
You need to register for the exams at least 12 days beforehand. You will be able to see the registration periods and do the registrations in Ladok for Students.
Information - digital examination
Support for disabilities at UU
If you need to apply for special support, please do so as soon as possible after starting the course and notify the course administration (inf.biol.master@imbim.uu.se) when you register for the exam.