Wageningen Bioveterinary Research is an independent research institute and the Dutch national reference laboratory in the field of veterinary science. The areas in which Wageningen Bioveterinary Research works cover the entire range of diseases (caused by viruses, bacteria, prions and parasites) found among agricultural livestock, fish and shellfish and wild animals. We also study pathogenic organisms in animals that form a threat to humans (zoonoses). The field of zoonoses focuses its fundamental and applied research on the development of diagnostic tests for animals, vaccines, expertise on antibiotic resistance and the way in which zoonoses spread (epidemiology).