Epizutiology, sometimes called epizoology, or veterinary epidemiology, is the term for the study of disease patterns within

animal populations. An epizutic is like an epidemic in humans but for animals. This epizutic

might take place in a specific area, relegated to a particular forest or nature preserve or

breeding facility, for instance, in which case it would be considered

an outbreak. It might also be a widespread event affecting populations of that animal in many

different regions, countries, or even hemispheres, in which case it would be considered a

pan-zutic. Importantly, this sort of disease spread, whether we're talking about a regionally specific

event or one that's more widespread, is N-Zudic, meaning limited to a particular creature. So a disease

that is only found in Kitty's Hogd-Nose bat, also called the bumblebee bat, because it's so small,

arguably the smallest of all mammals, and which is found

in western Thailand and southeastern Myanmar, a disease that only carries between kitty's hog-nosed

bats would be an epa-zutic that is a pan-zutic that is n-zutic to this particular

bat. Today, we have numerous methods of tracking potential outbreaks before they go full-on

pan-zutic, affecting far more members of a particular species across a far greater area. We also

have the means of stopping transmission through treatment and prevention, just as with humans and

our diseases. Mathematical models are also utilized to see where an increase in flu-like symptoms are experiencing an uptick within horse populations, for instance.

And that can allow practitioners of veterinary medicine to pop in and vaccinate those who are yet unaffected,

keeping the virus isolated and unable to spread, allowing it to die off

once those currently affected have been treated, if feasible, or allowing them to rest and recuperate

until their immune systems handle things, if not. As a species, we've been practicing

veterinary medicine, or versions of it, since at least the Neolithic period.

There's archaeological evidence that our ancestors were trepinating, that is, we're drilling

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