About

Dr. Csaba Varga is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. His research program evaluates infectious diseases at the interface of humans, animals, and the environment by assessing geographic differences in disease rates and investigating their environmental, genetic, socioeconomic, and demographic risk factors. He employs maps, data synthesis, statistical methods, and spatio-temporal models to identify significant patterns and forecast future conditions. His work aims to aid human and animal health stakeholders in reducing illnesses and ensuring optimal health. Dr. Varga holds a PhD in Population Medicine & Epidemiology and an MSc in Population Medicine & Epidemiology from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada, as well as an MSc in Applied Veterinary Epidemiology from the University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine in Romania. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and is licensed by the College of Veterinarians of Ontario. His professional background includes roles as Lead Veterinarian for Animal Health and Welfare at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and as a Veterinarian Consultant for the Public Health Division of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. His research interests include spatial epidemiology, disease ecology, modeling infectious disease spread, antimicrobial resistance, and food-borne pathogens, with a focus on health and disease in wildlife.

Research topics

• Biology
• Medicine
• Ecology
• Animal science
• Environmental health
• Veterinary medicine
• Computer Science
• Materials science
• Business
• Evolutionary biology
• Internal medicine
• Geography
• Food science
• Virology
• Biotechnology

Selected publications

• Prevalence of breast muscle myopathies (spaghetti meat, woody breast, white striping) and associated risk factors in broiler chickens from Ontario Canada

  PLoS ONE · 2022 · 59 citations

  • Medicine
  • Veterinary medicine
  • Animal science

  Spaghetti meat (SM), woody breast (WB), and white striping (WS) are myopathies that affect the pectoral muscle of fast-growing broiler chickens. The prevalence and possible risk factors of these myopathies have been reported in other countries, but not yet in Canada. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and risk factors associated with these myopathies in a representative population of Canadian broilers. From May 2019 to March 2020, 250 random breast fillets from each of 37 flocks (total, 9,250) were obtained from two processing plants and assessed for the presence and severity of myopathies. Demographic data (e.g., sex and average live weight), environmental conditions during the grow-out period (e.g., temperature), and husbandry parameters (e.g., vaccination) were collected for each flock. Associations between these factors and the myopathies were tested using logistic regression analyses. The prevalence of SM, severe WB, and mild or moderate WS was 36.3% (95% CI: 35.3-37.3), 11.8% (95% CI: 11.2-12.5), and 96.0% (95% CI: 95.6-96.4), respectively. Most (85.1%) of the fillets showed multiple myopathies. Regression analyses showed that the odds of SM increased with live weight (OR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.01-1.69) and higher environmental temperature during the grow-out period (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.31-2.34). The odds of WB increased with live weight (OR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.03-1.47) and when flocks were not vaccinated against coccidia (OR = 1.86, 95% CI 1.51-2.29). This study documents for the first time a high prevalence of myopathies in Ontario broilers, and suggests that these lesions may have a significant economic impact on the Canadian poultry industry. Our results indicate that environmental conditions and husbandry are associated with the development of breast myopathies, in agreement with the current literature. Future studies are needed to determine how risk factors can promote the occurrence of these conditions, in order to implement possible mitigating strategies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Characteristics of broiler chicken breast myopathies (spaghetti meat, woody breast, white striping) in Ontario, Canada

  Poultry Science · 2022 · 45 citations

  • Medicine
  • Animal science
  • Biology

  Spaghetti meat (SM), woody breast (WB), and white striping (WS) are myopathies affecting breast muscle of broiler chickens, and are characterized by a loss of myofibers and an increase in fibrous tissue. The conditions develop in intensive broiler chicken production systems, and cause poor meat process-ability and negative customer perception leading to monetary losses. The objectives of the present study were to describe the physical and histological characteristics of breast myopathies from commercial broiler chicken flocks in Ontario, Canada, and to assess the associations between the severity of myopathies with the physical and histological characteristics of the affected breast muscle fillets. Chicken breast fillets (n = 179) were collected over 3 visits from a processing plant and scored macroscopically to assess the severity of myopathies, following an established scoring scheme. For each fillet, the surface area, length, width, thickness, weight, and hardness (compression force) were measured. A subset of 60 fillets was evaluated microscopically. Multinomial logistic regression models were built to evaluate associations between physical parameters and macroscopic scores. The odds of SM co-occurring with severe WB (SM1WB2) were significantly associated with increased fillet thickness (OR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.31-1.94) and weight (OR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.03-1.09). Histologically, myopathies had overlapping lesions consisting of polyphasic myodegeneration, perivascular inflammatory cuffing and accumulation of fibrous tissue and fat. The pairwise correlation between macroscopic and microscopic scores was moderate (rho 0.45, P < 0.001). This is the first study to characterize breast myopathies in Canadian broiler flocks. Results show that the morphologic and microscopic changes of fillets from this cohort are similar to data from other countries, and provide database to benchmark these parameters in future studies. Our standardized categorization can be applied to broiler breast fillets in other regions of the world.

  PublisherDOI

• Host Diversity and Potential Transmission Pathways of SARS-CoV-2 at the Human-Animal Interface

  Pathogens · 2021 · 49 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Biology
  • Virology

  Emerging infectious diseases present great risks to public health. The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has become an urgent public health issue of global concern. It is speculated that the virus first emerged through a zoonotic spillover. Basic research studies have suggested that bats are likely the ancestral reservoir host. Nonetheless, the evolutionary history and host susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 remains unclear as a multitude of animals has been proposed as potential intermediate or dead-end hosts. SARS-CoV-2 has been isolated from domestic animals, both companion and livestock, as well as in captive wildlife that were in close contact with human COVID-19 cases. Currently, domestic mink is the only known animal that is susceptible to a natural infection, develop severe illness, and can also transmit SARS-CoV-2 to other minks and humans. To improve foundational knowledge of SARS-CoV-2, we are conducting a synthesis review of its host diversity and transmission pathways. To mitigate this COVID-19 pandemic, we strongly advocate for a systems-oriented scientific approach that comprehensively evaluates the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at the human and animal interface.

  DOI

• Food Safety Considerations Related to the Consumption and Handling of Game Meat in North America

  Veterinary Sciences · 2020 · 34 citations

  • Geography
  • Environmental health
  • Business

  Emerging foodborne pathogens present a threat to public health. It is now recognized that several foodborne pathogens originate from wildlife as demonstrated by recent global disease outbreaks. Zoonotic spillover events are closely related to the ubiquity of parasitic, bacterial, and viral pathogens present within human and animal populations and their surrounding environment. Foodborne diseases have economic and international trade impacts, incentivizing effective wildlife disease management. In North America, there are no food safety standards for handling and consumption of free-ranging game meat. Game meat consumption continues to rise in North America; however, this growing practice could place recreational hunters and game meat consumers at increased risk of foodborne diseases. Recreational hunters should follow effective game meat food hygiene practices from harvest to storage and consumption. Here, we provide a synthesis review that evaluates the ecological and epidemiological drivers of foodborne disease risk in North American hunter populations that are associated with the harvest and consumption of terrestrial mammal game meat. We anticipate this work could serve as a foundation of preventive measures that mitigate foodborne disease transmission between free-ranging mammalian and human populations.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• Leonardo Susta

  University of Guelph

  27 shared

• Michele T. Guerin

  University of Guelph

  20 shared

• Marina L. Brash

  University of Guelph

  14 shared

• Nicole M. Nemeth

  University of Georgia

  13 shared

• Hugues Beaufrère

  University of California, Davis

  13 shared

• Daniel J. Gibson

  University of Guelph

  13 shared

• Scott A. McEwen

  University of Guelph

  12 shared

• Andrijana Rajić

  11 shared

Education

• PhD / Epidemiology, Population Medicine

  University of Guelph

  2015

• Diplomate in Veterinary Preventive Medicine

  American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine

  2012

• MSc / Epidemiology, Population Medicine

  University of Guelph

  2007

• MSc / Applied Veterinary Epidemiology, Microbiology / Epidemiology

  University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca

  2003

• DVM

  University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca

  2001

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