April 17, 2003

 

Epidemiologist and Anthrax Expert to Speak at NDSU May 2

The North Dakota State University Department of Veterinary and Microbiological Science’s annual "Hot Zone" event on Friday, May 2 will feature a highly recognized epidemiologist and anthrax expert.

Martin Hugh-Jones, the Mary Louise Martin Professor of Epidemiology at Louisiana State University, will discuss the ecology and molecular epidemiology of Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax. The lecture begins at 1 p.m. in the NDSU Memorial Union Century Theatre and is free and open to the public.

Hugh-Jones was born in Oxford, England and obtained a degree in veterinary medicine from Cambridge University in 1960. Shortly after, he arrived on this continent and spent two years as a government meat inspector in Calgary, Alberta. He was awarded his master’s degree in public health from Tulane University in 1964 and returned home to serve as an epidemiologist for the United Kingdom Ministry of Agriculture at the Central Veterinary Laboratory for 10 years.

Hugh-Jones is one of the most recognized experts on the epidemiology of anthrax and has gathered strains of Bacillus anthracis from around the world. This collection was used in the identification of the strain of anthrax used in the tainted letters of 2001. He has compiled research on a range of subjects including the veterinary surveillance system in the UK and the air-borne transmission of foot and mouth disease and Newcastle disease. He has published work assessing the economic impacts of various diseases including bovine brucellosis and the use of satellite imagery to map tick vectors.

In addition to his current position at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, Hugh-Jones has acted as a consultant for many national and international agencies, including USDA, WHO and NATO. He is currently the Coordinator of the WHO Anthrax Control and Research Working Group and Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Reference and Training in Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems for Public Health. Since 1995 he has been a moderator for ProMEDmail, a global awareness system for emerging human, animal and plant diseases.

###

Source: Jessica Ebert, (701) 231-7184, jessica.ebert@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu