Outline

Overview

The health and wellbeing of all living creatures on this earth is dependent on the interconnections between people, animals, plants and the land they share. The concept of ONE Health recognizes that the health of people, animals and the environment are connected and closely related. This unit will investigate how humans relate to wild and domestic animals and their environment and investigate the negative consequence of these interaction through examining recent emerging infectious disease and zoonotic events. You will utilize the principles of veterinary and public health, biosecurity, food safety and security, risk assessment and epidemiology to understand how public health, animal health and environmental health can be optimized in a holistically approach, taking into consideration the multifaceted nature of human, animal, environmental interaction. By doing this unit you will apply your knowledge of infectious disease of animals and humans with the broader concepts of environmental and planetary health to generate disease management strategies that can lead to a more sustainable planet into the 22nd century. The unit will provide final year students with a major in Animal Health, Disease and Welfare the skills to move into the professional fields of biosecurity, human and animal disease surveillance and national and international policy development related to ecological, animal and public health.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Life and Environmental Sciences Academic Operations
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	144 cp of units including AVBS3001 or FOOD3000 or VIRO3X01 or MICR3X52 or BIOL3019 or BIOL3033
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	AVBS4004
Assumed knowledge ?	Fundamental understanding of disease epidemiology and risk
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Gary Muscatello, gary.muscatello@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Victoria Brookes, victoria.brookes@sydney.edu.au
	Gary Muscatello, gary.muscatello@sydney.edu.au
	David Guest, david.guest@sydney.edu.au
	Justin Beardsley, justin.beardsley@sydney.edu.au
	Emily Francis, emily.francis@sydney.edu.au
	Michael Kertesz, michael.kertesz@sydney.edu.au

Assessment

The census date for this unit availability is 2 September 2024

Details
Criteria

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Supervised exam ?	Final exam Supervised exam	35%	Formal exam period	2 hours
Outcomes assessed:
Tutorial quiz	Quiz Online Canvas quiz	10%	Week 08 Due date: 16 Sep 2024 at 14:30	60 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	ONE Health review Literature review	25%	Week 10 Due date: 09 Oct 2024 at 23:59	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	ONE Health scenario (prevention and planning) Informative document (professional and general public)	30%	Week 12 Due date: 21 Oct 2024 at 23:59	1500words + diagrammatic illustration
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ?

Assessment summary

Tutorial quiz – 10% (week 8 in class)

Literature review (ONE Health theme: Interactions and drivers that lead to evaluate risk) – 25% (1500 words) (week 10)

Group Assignment (ONE Health Scenario: prevention and planning to prevent disease and optimise health) – 30% (1500 words + illustrations/diagramatical) (week 12)

Final Exam – 35%. This assessment is compulsory and failure to attend, attempt, or submit will result in the award of an AF grade.

If a second replacement exam is required, this exam may be delivered via an alternative assessment method, such as a viva voce (oral exam). The alternative assessment will meet the same learning outcomes as the original exam. The format of the alternative assessment will be determined by the unit coordinator.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

Result name	Mark range	Description
High Distinction	85-100	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Distinction	75-84	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Credit	65-74	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Pass	50-64	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Fail	0-49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

A late penalty of 5% per day will be enforced for late submissions.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Support for students

The Support for Students Policy 2023 reflects the University’s commitment to supporting students in their academic journey and making the University safe for students. It is important that you read and understand this policy so that you are familiar with the range of support services available to you and understand how to engage with them.

The University uses email as its primary source of communication with students who need support under the Support for Students Policy 2023. Make sure you check your University email regularly and respond to any communications received from the University.

Learning resources and detailed information about weekly assessment and learning activities can be accessed via Canvas. It is essential that you visit your unit of study Canvas site to ensure you are up to date with all of your tasks.

If you are having difficulties completing your studies, or are feeling unsure about your progress, we are here to help. You can access the support services offered by the University at any time:

Support and Services (including health and wellbeing services, financial support and learning support)
Course planning and administration
Meet with an Academic Adviser

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction to ONE Health	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 01	Resources, assignments and brainstorming	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 02	Microbes, plants and planetary health	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 02	Climate Change	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 03	Microbial Ecology	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 03	Microbial Ecology and ONE Health application	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 04	Animal Health and Management	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 04	Animal Management	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 05	Threats to Animal Health	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 05	Habitat and farm intensification	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 06	Zoonosis and Public Health	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 06	Emerging Infectious Disease	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 07	Chemicals and Drug Usage in Agriculture	Lecture (1 hr)
	Food Safety, Security and Sovereignty	Lecture (2 hr)
	Food Safety and Security	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 08	ONE Health Teams	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	Drug Resistance and Residues	Lecture (2 hr)
Week 09	Interdisciplinary integration and teams	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 11	Health monitoring and surveillance	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 11	Disease surveillance systems	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 12	ONE Health Epidemiology	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 12	Disease modelling	Workshop (2 hr)
Week 13	Urban planning and sustainable industries	Workshop (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Unless otherwise stated, students are expected to attend at least 80% of timetabled activities as defined in the unit of study outline. A student may fail this unit of study because of inadequate attendance.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

All readings for this unit can be accessed through Canvas

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Understand and apply epidemiological skills to investigate disease outbreaks
LO2. Describe various zoonotic disease and environmental factors of relevance to plant, animal and public health
LO3. Evaluate hazards and threats to environmental, plant, animal and public health and appreciate risk assessment and risk management tools used in food safety
LO4. Apply the core concepts of ONE Health in devising strategies to prevent, monitor or control emerging diseases .
LO5. Evaluate the drivers for emerging infectious diseases in public health
LO6. Work collaboratively and independently to sources material and data to create and communicate ONE Health strategies to address emerging animal, public or environmental emergencies.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

The unit of study was well received last year, there will be some minor adjustments in case scenarios and workshop activities based on student feedback.

Additional information

Science student portal

Work, health and safety

Completion of the Canvas module “Zoonosis Awareness” is compulsory.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Support for students

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

AVBS4020: ONE Health

Semester 2, 2024 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Support for students

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Work, health and safety

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect