10/07/2026
Tracking tomorrow's threats: Montana Tech researchers study the future of zoonotic diseases!⚒️
According to the World Health Organization, 60% of emerging infectious diseases worldwide originate in animals. Of the more than 30 new human pathogens identified in the past three decades, 75% came from animal populations.🐭
At Montana Technological University, decades of research have helped build a foundation for understanding how and why those diseases emerge, and what humans can do to better protect against them!
Dr. Amy Kuenzi, head of the Department of Biological Sciences, is studying disease dynamics in Montana's deer mouse populations, building the state's longest-running dataset on hantavirus prevalence.🔬
In the late afternoon, Kuenzi and her students hike into study sites in various parts of Montana, carrying stacks of small metal live traps baited for deer mice. The traps are set in grids and left overnight while the nocturnal mice are active. Early the next morning, the team returns to check each trap, following guidelines from the American Society of Mammalogists and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the University of Montana.
Click the link in our bio to read more!👀
