Definitions are provided in order to distinguish between the one form
of epidemiology describing the behaviour of a communicable disease in
populations and the other form of epidemiology as a bio-medical discip
line of research. The problems, together with the methodologies and to
ols which are used, which the art of epidemiology can be applied to ar
e discussed. The current state of the art of epidemiology in veterinar
y medicine and likely trends are described.