Table 1.

Examples of applications of molecular epidemiology in veterinary medicine

Application	Example	Reference
Determination of the dynamics of disease transmission in geographically widespread areas	Global spread of foot-and-mouth disease; spread of Newcastle disease virus in Asia	[8], [38]
Distinction between pathovars and nonpathovars	Pathogenic and nonpathogenic Escherichia coli in petting zoos	[47]
Addressing hospital and institutional infectious disease problems	Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in veterinary teaching hospitals	[120]
Identification of genetic determinants of disease and disease transmission	Lineage-specific pathogenicity of Listeria monocytogenes in humans and ruminants	[35]
Confirmation of epidemiologically suspected transmission	Transmission of Staphylococcus aureus mastitis by flies	[121]
Detection of epidemiologically unsuspected outbreaks	Multiresistant Salmonella in animals and humans	[122]
Support for mathematic modeling	Streptococcus uberis mastitis outbreak; local spread of Campylobacter spp	[63], [64], [67], [123]
Identification of risk factors and environments where transmission occurs	Mycobacterium bovis control schemes	[7]
Challenging of accepted dogmas	Origin of high bacteria counts in bulk tank milk	[55]
Identification of sources and reservoirs	Staphylococcus aureus in milk processing plants	[124]
Differentiation between persistence and reintroduction	Recurrent episodes of clinical E coli mastitis	[77]
Development of future control strategies	Identification of vaccine candidates	[113]
Host adaptation of strains	Human and bovine Streptococcus agalactiae	[92]
Differentiation between zoonotic, waterborne, and anthroponotic transmission	Cryptosporidium in cattle and humans; Giardia in humans, livestock, and pets	[10], [125]