Research
Research activities of the Department of Ecology & Diseases of Zoo Animals, Game, Fish and Bees aim at studies into the interaction between hosts (wild, free-ranging and/or game animals, fishes and bees) and pathogenic agents (microorganisms and parasites) as well as abiotic environmental factors (anthropogenic and natural toxins and pollutants). We also study defence mechanisms, molecular pathology and pathophysiology of infections. Attention is also paid to combined infections and co-exposures. In line with pathogen identification, we seek for, propose therapeutic, and control measures to deal with diseases of game animals, fishes, honeybees and zooanimals in captivity.
The list of specific research topics our department is engaged with includes, for example:
- viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases of farmed common carps and salmonids,
- therapeutic efficacy of drugs against varroosis of honeybees,
- nosematosis of honeybees,
- viral and fungal diseases of amphibians and snakes with a potential to threaten their biodiversity,
- diseases of bats,
- physiology of hibernation and adverse effects of multiple stressors on hibernants,
- ecology of zoonotic agents,
- utilization of cell cultures derived from organs and tissues of game animals, birds and bats for testing toxic substances and as a model of infections in vitro,
- diseases of game birds,
- poisonings in birds of prey,
- adverse effects of cyanobacteria in fishes, amphibians and birds, and
- ecotoxicology of invertebrates, plants, birds and fishes to ensure food safety by preventing food chain contamination.
