ACVPM Epidemiology and Biostats Exam
Newest 2026-2027 with Complete Questions
and Correct Detailed Answers| Graded A+
Define epidemiology - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>largely concerned with disease
prevention and therefore with the succession of events which result in the
exposure of specific types of individual to specific types of environment.
Epidemiologists ID exposures and evaluate associations with health, welfare,
productivity and other outcomes of interest
does your sample size go up or down when you want to not only detect but
estimate prevalence in a herd? - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>sample size must go up
what are the 3 forms of nonprobability sampling - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔-
>>consecutive, convenience, judgemental
,define sentinel versus indicator species - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>sentinel
typically reflects an infectious disease relevant to human health (think chickens
for WNV) and indicator reflects a factor that will impact the health of ecosystem
(think toxins or another factor that can impact ecosystem chains)
case definition is based on what metrics? - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>1) disease
signs, symptoms, epidemiology 2) animal performance
what are the 3 ways of reporting disease occurrence in a population -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>host traits, time, place
in what situations is the attack rate mostly used - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔-
>>outbreak investigations
what is an epidemic curve - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>disease frequency data
when a disease is first recognized in a population plotted across time
what are the 3 forms of disease occurrence across time - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔-
>>sporadic (rare occurrence and without regulatory), endemic (occurrence with
predictable regularity with minor fluctuations in frequency pattern over time -
hyperendemic is used when high proportion of animals are affected), epidemic
(outbreak is another name for it, disease frequency in excess of expected
frequency)
how do you determine a point (common) source from propagating epidemic? -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>point - epidemic curve is skewed to the right,
propagating - curve skewed to the left
,what is a pandemic - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>large-scale epidemic over a wide
geographic region affecting a substantial population proportion
what differentiates sporadic from epidemic disease - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔-
>>function of transmission efficiency
what is a time series analysis in vet epi - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>time series
analysis focuses on detection, description, and measurement of patterns or
periodicities from temporal disease occurrence data - purpose is to ID periods of
high or low risk to explore causal relationship
what 3 influences can patterns of disease occurrence reflect -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>1) long-term (secular) trend 2) seasonal fluctuation 3)
residuals (cyclic and irregular variation)
what is the most traditional method to conduct a time series analysis -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>decomposition method
what are secular trends - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>they are overall rises or
declines in disease frequency that occur gradually over long periods of time
how can a secular trend be ID from time series data - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>1)
visual observe raw data 2) moving average method 3) exponential smoothing 4)
least squares regression
what is a moving average in time series analysis - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>series
of data averages at each successive measurement point on the time scale
, how can you capture seasonal fluctuations in time series analysis -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>use a 3-month moving average
define cyclical and irregular variation in time series analysis -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>cyclical: refers to rise and fall of disease freq developing
at intervals longer than 1 year and irregular reflects random or unpredictable
variation in occurrence among individuals in a pop - both may be associated with
disease outbreaks
what are 3 ways to depict spatial distribution of disease frequency -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>1) areal maps (within defined boundaries), 2) spot (or
dot) map 3) overlay mapping (superimposed spatial distribution maps)
what are Koch's postulates - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>guidelines to demonstrate
that an agent causes disease - problematic for chronic dz, viruses, prions 1) agent
must be present in every case 2) must be isolated and grown in pure culture 3)
must cause specific disease when inoculated into animal 4) must be recovered
from animal and identified
define web of causation - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>way in which agent, host,
environment (or management) interact to cause disease (same as multiple
causality)
what are some determinants of agent that causes disease -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>pathogenicity, virulence, strains, genetic variability
Newest 2026-2027 with Complete Questions
and Correct Detailed Answers| Graded A+
Define epidemiology - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>largely concerned with disease
prevention and therefore with the succession of events which result in the
exposure of specific types of individual to specific types of environment.
Epidemiologists ID exposures and evaluate associations with health, welfare,
productivity and other outcomes of interest
does your sample size go up or down when you want to not only detect but
estimate prevalence in a herd? - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>sample size must go up
what are the 3 forms of nonprobability sampling - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔-
>>consecutive, convenience, judgemental
,define sentinel versus indicator species - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>sentinel
typically reflects an infectious disease relevant to human health (think chickens
for WNV) and indicator reflects a factor that will impact the health of ecosystem
(think toxins or another factor that can impact ecosystem chains)
case definition is based on what metrics? - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>1) disease
signs, symptoms, epidemiology 2) animal performance
what are the 3 ways of reporting disease occurrence in a population -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>host traits, time, place
in what situations is the attack rate mostly used - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔-
>>outbreak investigations
what is an epidemic curve - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>disease frequency data
when a disease is first recognized in a population plotted across time
what are the 3 forms of disease occurrence across time - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔-
>>sporadic (rare occurrence and without regulatory), endemic (occurrence with
predictable regularity with minor fluctuations in frequency pattern over time -
hyperendemic is used when high proportion of animals are affected), epidemic
(outbreak is another name for it, disease frequency in excess of expected
frequency)
how do you determine a point (common) source from propagating epidemic? -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>point - epidemic curve is skewed to the right,
propagating - curve skewed to the left
,what is a pandemic - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>large-scale epidemic over a wide
geographic region affecting a substantial population proportion
what differentiates sporadic from epidemic disease - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔-
>>function of transmission efficiency
what is a time series analysis in vet epi - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>time series
analysis focuses on detection, description, and measurement of patterns or
periodicities from temporal disease occurrence data - purpose is to ID periods of
high or low risk to explore causal relationship
what 3 influences can patterns of disease occurrence reflect -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>1) long-term (secular) trend 2) seasonal fluctuation 3)
residuals (cyclic and irregular variation)
what is the most traditional method to conduct a time series analysis -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>decomposition method
what are secular trends - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>they are overall rises or
declines in disease frequency that occur gradually over long periods of time
how can a secular trend be ID from time series data - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>1)
visual observe raw data 2) moving average method 3) exponential smoothing 4)
least squares regression
what is a moving average in time series analysis - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>series
of data averages at each successive measurement point on the time scale
, how can you capture seasonal fluctuations in time series analysis -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>use a 3-month moving average
define cyclical and irregular variation in time series analysis -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>cyclical: refers to rise and fall of disease freq developing
at intervals longer than 1 year and irregular reflects random or unpredictable
variation in occurrence among individuals in a pop - both may be associated with
disease outbreaks
what are 3 ways to depict spatial distribution of disease frequency -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>1) areal maps (within defined boundaries), 2) spot (or
dot) map 3) overlay mapping (superimposed spatial distribution maps)
what are Koch's postulates - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>guidelines to demonstrate
that an agent causes disease - problematic for chronic dz, viruses, prions 1) agent
must be present in every case 2) must be isolated and grown in pure culture 3)
must cause specific disease when inoculated into animal 4) must be recovered
from animal and identified
define web of causation - ✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>way in which agent, host,
environment (or management) interact to cause disease (same as multiple
causality)
what are some determinants of agent that causes disease -
✔✔ANSWER✔✔->>pathogenicity, virulence, strains, genetic variability
