Susanna Sternberg Lewerin

Professor in Epizootiology & Disease Control, Programme director SLU Future One Health

Why can a disease take hold in one region and not another? Why can one outbreak be eradicated and not another, despite using the same strategy? What are the differences and similarities that affect how we control animal diseases in different parts of the world and what can we learn from each other? Can the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance be reduced by tailored infection control and other interventions?

I work mainly with diseases that we don’t have, or don’t want to have, in Swedish animals. These diseases are not a part of the everyday life of Swedish veterinarians and farmers, but we still need to prepare for them. This preparedness needs a scientific basis. Another field of research close to my heart is antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the largest global threats to the health of animals and people. 

 Monitoring, prevention and control of infectious animal diseases, epidemiology of infections, biosecurity

My research area is broad and covers several aspects of infectious animal diseases and AMR: epidemiological studies, surveillance, biosecurity studies, disease modelling, modelling the spread of infectious agents, evaluation of control measures. My research focuses on the Swedish situation but I am also involved in international projects.

• Lecturer in Bacteriology year 2 Veterinary Programme
• Course leader general Epizootiology year 3 Veterinary Programme
• Lecturer in epizootic diseases and contingency plans year 4 Veterinary Programme
• Discussions contingency plans in slaughterhouses year 5 Veterinary Programme
• Course leader Epizootiology, Epidemiology & Veterinary Public Health year 5 Veterinary Programme
• Course leader Infectious diseases year 5 Veterinary Programme
• Lecturer MSc programme in Infection Biology and BSc in Animal Science

Recent and current research projects led by me

• Strengthening the scientific basis for veterinary disease control. Project leader (Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency 2011-2013)
• Increasing the cost-effectiveness of salmonella control in Swedish dairy herds. Project leader (Swedish Farmers Foundation for Agricultural research 2012-2016)
• Illustrating the effect of biosecurity measures for disease prevention. Project leader (Swedish Board of Agriculture 2013-2014)
• Geographic contact patterns between Swedish livestock farms. Project funded by Swedish Board of Agriculture. 2014
• Tools for prevention of infectious diseases in cattle in Uganda. Project leader (Swedish Research Council 2014-2016)
• Understanding disease spread in wildlife- African swine fever in wild boar. Project participant (Formas 2017-2019)
• Omberg 2016 - sample and data collection for better understanding of the complex epidemiology of anthrax. Project participant (Formas emergency grant 2017)
• Improved disease control by community participation - the case of African swine fever in northern Uganda Project participant (Swedish research council 2017-2020)
• ROADMAP Rethinking of Antimicrobial Decision-Systems in the Management of Animal Production. Project participant, SLU PI. (EU Horizon 2020, 2019-2023)
• MAD-tech-AMR. Management of animal diseases and antimicrobial use by information and communication technology to control AMR in East Africa. Project leader. (JPIAMR, Swedish research council 2020-2022)

As Programme director for the transdisciplinary research platform SLU Future One Health I want to create a contact point for SLU research encompassing the health of animals and humans linked to nature and environment. We aim to strengthen transdisciplinary research within the field of One Health and contribute to science-based policymaking.

Academic degrees

• DVM/Reg. veterinarian 1991
• PhD/VMD in Veterinary bacteriology 1999
• Associate professor in Clinical Bacteriology 2006
• Postgraduate Diploma in Veterinary Epidemiology & Public Health, Royal Veterinary College, London, 2006
• Professor in Epizootiology & disease control, 2012
• European Diplomate in Veterinary Public Health, 2016

Other relevant training

• Fellowship in Science Politics and Animal Health Policy, University of Virginia-Maryland and Michigan State University, 2000
• Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English, 2001
• FAO-EuFMD real-time training courses in FMD, 2009 & 2011

Previous employment

• 1990-1993: Large animal veterinary practice
• 1993-1999: PhD student & junior lecturer, Dept. of Microbiology, SLU
• 1998-2006: Veterinary Epidemiologist in the Department of Disease Control, Section for Epizootiology, National Veterinary Institute
• 2006-2011: Deputy State Epizootiologist & head of Section for Epizootiology, National Veterinary Institute

 Commissions

• Assistant scientific secretary in the commission on antimicrobial feed additives (SOU 1997:132)
• Member of the board of the Swedish Veterinary Association 2001-2004, 2016-2017 and 2018-2022
• Expert for the EU Commission on a mission to Hungary to evaluate the control of bovine tuberculosis, September 2006
•  Swedish representative in the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) network on animal health and welfare, until 2011
• FVE (Federation of Veterinarians of Europe) representative in the European Commission Steering Group on Categorization of Animal Disease Risks (2011)
• Expert advisor to the Swedish Embassy regarding financial support for the control of brucellosis in small ruminants in Bosnia (2009-2010)
• Chair of the subgroup on tuberculosis of the EU Commission Task Force on disease eradication programmes (2006-2015)
• Expert for the EU Food and Veterinary Office in audits of animal disease contingency plans (since 2013)
• Member of the EU Veterinary Contingency Team (since 2014)
• Veterinary expert at ICTSD Talking Disputes: India - Agricultural Products, WTO 2015
• Expert for EU Commission DG Sante assessing disease eradication programmes since 2012
• Member of the Scientific Board for Veterinary Medicines of the Swedish Medical Products Agency
• Epidemiology training of staff in DG Sante Directorate F in 2017
• Member of Expert advisory board for the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund, UK Department of Health since 2016
• Member of the Scientific Advosiry Board of the Swedish Society for Risk Sciences

Assistant supervisor

• PhD in tuberculosis in deer, 2004
• PhD in canine pyometra, 2005
• PhD in disease prevention & control, 2010
• PhD in salmonella in pigs, 2010
• PhD in African swine fever in Uganda, 2017
• PhD lagoviruses, 2018
• PhD participatory health planning in dairy farms, 2018
• PhD African swine fever in Uganda
• PhD infection prevention and control in veterinary practice
• PhD salmonella and AMR in Cambodia
• PhD salmonella and AMR in Ethiopia

Main supervisor

• PhD in epidemiology of salmonella in dairy cattle, 2017
• PhD in ovine footrot, 2016
• PhD modelling LA-MRSA
• PhD African swine fever prevention in Sweden
• MSc on bovine tuberculosis in Zambia 2001
• MSc on rabies in India 2014
• MSc on dog bites and rabies 2014
• MSc on contact pattern between Swedish farms 2014
• MSc on farmers' views on salmonella control 2015
• MSc on salmonella in cats, 2017
• MSc on biosecurity practices in horse esteablishments, 2017
• MSc on blackleg outbreak, 2018
• MSc on anthrax outbreak, and vaccination, 2018
• MSc on contingency planning for disease outbreaks, 2019
• MSc on biosecurity and vaccination practices in horse breeding, 2019
• MSc on kennel cough, 2020
• MSc on wild boar movements, 2021
• MSc on complementary and alternative medicine in dogs, 2021
• MSc on complementary and alternative medicine in horses, 2021