Developing a UK framework for canine disease outbreaks

Dr Carmen Tamayo at the University of Bristol is developing a national framework to provide a structured rapid response to canine disease outbreaks, based on the rapid detection of anomalies.

Applying insights from the Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance Group, the aim is to create an effective framework to control disease in dogs and protect the canine population.

Carmen has been working to prioritise canine diseases to be included in future rapid response protocols. She has been liaising with the team at the University of Manchester to develop text mining tools so that these diseases can be identified early.

Carmen is also exploring thresholds for disease outbreaks and how these could be communicated with veterinary practitioners.

In the early days of Carmen starting her PhD, there was an outbreak of prolific vomiting in dogs.