This module aims to provide students with an exploratory understanding of microbiological and parasitic infection and diseases in the veterinary world. Students will learn the structure of micro-organisms, viruses and parasites and gain knowledge of how such organisms are cultivated in the laboratory in order to aid the diagnosis of suspected infections. The second aim is to build upon the basic information by examining a range of specific pathogenic bacteria e.g. Staphylococcus and Enterobacteriaceae and investigate how such organisms infect animals and impart damage impart. The characteristic principles of a parasitic infection will be examined including helminth disease (nematodes, cestodes, flukes); protozoan diseases; diseases associated with arthropods (insects, acarines, tick-borne diseases). The role of virus infection in animals will also be considered focusing on specific virus infections affecting animals and also critiquing more unusual infections such as prions.