Coppoc One Health lecture to focus on zoonotic spillover

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The sixth annual Coppoc One Health Lecture will feature Raina Plowright, an infectious disease ecologist, epidemiologist and wildlife veterinarian.

Her talk, titled “Pathogen Spillover: Lessons Learned from Emerging Bat Viruses,” will focus on the concept of pathogen spillover and will take place at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 7 in Lynn Hall of Veterinary Medicine, Room 1136.

According to Plowright, viruses that originate in bats may be the most notorious for spilling over from wildlife into domestic animals and humans. Understanding how these infections filter through ecological systems to cause disease in humans is of great importance to public health.

The event is free and open to the public. No registration is required.

Plowright’s presentation is hosted by Purdue’s College of Veterinary Medicine. A light reception will follow the lecture.

Plowright is an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Montana State University. She received an Australian Fulbright Fellowship and earned a Master of Science in epidemiology and doctorate in ecology from the University of California, Davis. She previously worked as a veterinarian on five continents and was a David H. Smith Fellow in Conservation Research at the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University.

Plowright’s research focuses on the dynamics of zoonoses in wildlife, the conservation implications of diseases in wildlife, the transmissions of pathogens across species barriers and the links between environmental change and disease emergence. Her group focuses on bat pathogens including Hendra virus, rabies virus and the fungal pathogen causing white nose syndrome. Plowright uses interdisciplinary approaches to investigate the dynamics of disease systems that connect human and animal populations.

The Coppoc One Health Lecture is held in honor of Gordon Coppoc, a Purdue professor emeritus of veterinary pharmacology, and his wife, Harriet. Coppoc is a longtime faculty member and former head of the Department of Basic Medical Sciences in the Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine. He also served as director of the Indiana University School of Medicine of West Lafayette and associate dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine before retiring in December 2014.

Source: Kevin Doerr, doerrkr@purdue.edu