Ronald M. Weigel
Professor, Pathobiology
Professional Interests: Current
research is focusing on molecular epidemiology of Salmonella transmission
on swine farms. In general, research interests have included: the epidemiology
of infectious pathogens in swine, including pseudorabies virus, porcine
reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus, Toxoplasma gondii,
and Salmonella. Areas of research have included ecological
investigations of sources and modes of transmission of pathogens in the
swine production environment, identification of risk factors for the
spread of pathogens within and between swine herds, the role of wildlife
in disease transmission, strategies for disease eradication, evaluation
of the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostics, and vaccine efficacy.
Additional research has focused on the development and application of statistical
methods for epidemiologic research, with a special interest in developing quantitative
methods for diagnostic investigations; applications of molecular biological techniques
in this area have been investigated.
Selected Publications:
Qiao B and Weigel RM (2004). A computer simulation of the accuracy of partial genome sequencing and restriction fragment analysis in estimating genetic relationships: an application to papillomavirus DNA sequences. BMC Bioinformatics. 5:102. (website publication: http://www.biomedcentral/1471-2105/5/102).
Weigel RM, Qiao B, Teferedegne B, Suh DK, Barber DA, Isaacson RE and White BA (2004). Comparison of pulsed field gel electrophoresis and repetitive sequence polymeras chain reaction as genotyping methods for detection of genetic diversity and inferring transmission of Salmonella . Veterinary Microbiology 100: 205-217.
Firkins LD and Weigel RM (2004). A retrospective study of risk factors for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infection and disease in swine herds in Illinois during the early years of the pandemic. Journal of Swine Health and Production 12:23-28.
Weigel RM, Hahn EC and Scherba G (2003). Survival and immunization of raccoons after exposure to pseudorabies (Aujeszky's disease) virus gene-deleted vaccines. Veterinary Microbiology 92: 19-24.
Regula G, Scherba G, Mateus-Pinilla NE, Lichtensteiger CA, Miller GY and Weigel RM (2003). The impact of endemic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and other pathogens on reproductive performance in swine. Journal of Swine Health and Production 11: 13-18.
Weigel RM and Qiao B (2003). Inference
about transmission using genetic data: Not seeing the forest for the
trees (the statistical woodchopper's dilemma). Proceedings of the
10th International Symposium of the International Society for Veterinary
Epidemiology and Economics, No. 354, 3 pp. (published on CD-ROM).
