Nerea García Benzaquén
Unit Chief
Neglected and Emerging Diseases Unit
Qualifications:
PhD in Veterinary Sciences
Diploma de Estudios Avanzados
Degree in Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
Contact
Neglected and Emerging Diseases Unit
VISAVET, Health Surveillance Centre
Universidad Complutense
Av. Puerta de Hierro s/n. 28040 Madrid. Spain
e-mail:
Telephone: (+34) 91 394 4096
Fax: (+34) 91 394 3795
Biography
Degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Complutense University of Madrid (1995-2001) and PhD in Veterinary Medicine from the same University with the thesis entitled "Phenotypic and molecular characterization of Pasteurella multocida strains isolated from swine" (2009).
Currently she is the Head of the Neglected and Emerging Zoonoses Service of the VISAVET center (UCM), focused mainly on epidemiological surveillance and monitoring of emerging and / or neglected pathogens in different host species and vectors.
She has extensive experience in the laboratory (mainly microbiological diagnosis and characterization), work in the of biosafety level 3, field experience with different animal species, development of epidemiological surveillance programs, report elaboration, etc. She has participated in many research projects (17) and in contracts with companies and administrations (64). The research activity has been reflected in the participation in 25 international and 19 national scientific articles, 34 posters and 38 oral presentations in national and international conferences. He also belongs to the "Health Surveillance" research group.
In addition, she has been a beneficiary of two scholarships for stays abroad: predoctoral in Faculty of Veterinary and Zootechnics of the Autonomous University of Mexico and postdoctoral (program Jose Castillejo of the Ministry of Education) in the Center for the Control and Prevention of Diseases (CDC) of Atlanta (USA).
On the other hand, since 2021 she has been Professor of the Department of Animal Health of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, where she teaches the subjects of Microbiology and Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Health Policy, Zoonoses and Public Health. He has supervised two doctoral theses. In addition, he has given talks at training courses in the Community of Madrid, universities, etc. She has directed a multitude of final degree (TFGs) and master`s final (TFMs) research projects and has been a student tutor of training cycles and external internships.
Currently she is the Head of the Neglected and Emerging Zoonoses Service of the VISAVET center (UCM), focused mainly on epidemiological surveillance and monitoring of emerging and / or neglected pathogens in different host species and vectors.
She has extensive experience in the laboratory (mainly microbiological diagnosis and characterization), work in the of biosafety level 3, field experience with different animal species, development of epidemiological surveillance programs, report elaboration, etc. She has participated in many research projects (17) and in contracts with companies and administrations (64). The research activity has been reflected in the participation in 25 international and 19 national scientific articles, 34 posters and 38 oral presentations in national and international conferences. He also belongs to the "Health Surveillance" research group.
In addition, she has been a beneficiary of two scholarships for stays abroad: predoctoral in Faculty of Veterinary and Zootechnics of the Autonomous University of Mexico and postdoctoral (program Jose Castillejo of the Ministry of Education) in the Center for the Control and Prevention of Diseases (CDC) of Atlanta (USA).
On the other hand, since 2021 she has been Professor of the Department of Animal Health of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, where she teaches the subjects of Microbiology and Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Health Policy, Zoonoses and Public Health. He has supervised two doctoral theses. In addition, he has given talks at training courses in the Community of Madrid, universities, etc. She has directed a multitude of final degree (TFGs) and master`s final (TFMs) research projects and has been a student tutor of training cycles and external internships.
Investigation
Research lines:
- Integrated monitoring and control of Toxoplasma gondii and Hepatitis E virus in food supply chains (NED)
- Diagnosis of leishmaniasis in the animal reservoir (NED)
- Diagnosis of Q fever in livestock and wildlife using direct and indirect tests. (NED)
- Diagnosis of swine brucellosis (NED)
- New strategies for diagnosis and control of bovine, ovine and caprine brucellosis (NED)
- Epidemiological surveillance of zoonotic tick-borne pathogens (NED)
- Design of methods for detection of biological threat agents (NED)
Last scientific publications:
- Alves-Elois M., Paula-Pavi C., Ferreira Souza-Hoffmann Jempierre Y., Von Tönnemann-Pilati G., Zanchetta L., Borges-da Silva Grisard H., Garcia N., Rodriguez-Lazaro D. and Fongaro G.. Trends and Challenges in the Detection and Environmental Surveillance of the Hepatitis E Virus. Microorganisms, 13:998. 2025. (A)
- Santamaria-Palacios J., Garcia N. and Rodriguez-Lazaro D.. An Efficient, Organic Solvent-Free Method for Extraction and Concentration of Hepatitis E Virus from Pig Liver. Food Analytical Methods, 1-9. 2025. (A)
- Polo C., Garcia-Seco T., Garcia N., Fernandez-Benito V., Briones V., Diez-Guerrier A., Alvarez J., Dominguez L. and Perez-Sancho M.. Time, temperature and media: the three keys to improve the recovery of Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis from preputial bull samples. Veterinary Research Communications, 48(4):2109-2119. 2024. (A)
- Rebollada A., Martinez I., Duque C., Garcia-Seco T., Escacena C., Dominguez L., Rodriguez-Bertos A. and Garcia N.. Detection of Brucella in Dermacentor ticks of wild boar with brucellosis. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 2024:5517000, 12 pag. 2024. (A)
- Rebollada A., Ugarte-Ruiz M., Gómez-Buendía A., Barcena C., Garcia N., Dominguez L. and Rodriguez-Bertos A.. Cecal Reduction of Brachyspira and Lesion Severity in Laying Hens Supplemented with Fermented Defatted ‘Alperujo’. Fermentation, 8(10), 550. 2022. (A)
Last PhD thesis supervised:
- Alejandro Navarro Gómez. Hepatitis E in the pig production chain: from farm to fork. 2022.
- Mª Victoria Ortega García. Detection of Leishmania spp. in atypical reservoirs and molecular characterisation. 2021.
Outreach
Last outreach publications:
- Barcena C., Cabanes D., Gonzalez S., Martinez I., Garcia N., Rodriguez-Bertos A., Goyache J., de Juan L. and Dominguez L.. SEVEMUR 2007-2022: 15 años de VISAVET en la gestión del Servicio Veterinario de Urgencia del Ayuntamiento de Madrid. Profesión Veterinaria, 98:18-24, Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Veterinarios de Madrid. 2022.
- Cruz F., Gonzalez S., Barcena C., Bezos J., Buendia A., Briones V., Camino E., Fores P., Garcia N., Mazariegos M., Perez-Sancho M., Romero B. and de Juan L.. Infequus: Plataforma de enfermedades infecciosas equinas. Jornada Aprendizaje Eficaz con TIC en la UCM. Ed. 1. Ediciones Complutense. 2022.
- Garcia N., Alunda JM., Azami-Conesa I., Carrion J., Domenech A., Dominguez-Bernal G., Gomez-Muñoz MT., Gonzalez S., de Juan L., Miro G., Muller A., Olías-Molero AI. and Ortega-García MV.. Leishmaniosis. Revelando una enfermedad olvidada. Red de Investigación en Sanidad Animal (RISA), Agencia estatal de Investigación. 2020.
- Garcia N., Navarro A. and Goyache J.. HEPATITITS E: un riesgo emergente a estudio. Revista Alimentaria, 499, Ediciones y Publicaciones Alimentarias. 2019.
- Garcia N., Gonzalez S., Navarro A., Duque C., Polo C., Fernandez-Manzano A., Martinez I. and Goyache J.. El virus de la Hepatitis E: un patógeno zoonósico emergente en Europa. Badajoz Veterinaria, 13:6-15, Colegio Oficial de Veterinarios de Badajoz. 2018.
Last communications:
- Garcia N., Martinez I., Iriso A., Moreno I., Dominguez M., Gonzalez S. and Fuster-Loran F.. Vigilancia de zoonosis en rumiantes salvajes y jabalís de la Comunidad de Madrid (2017-2023). I International Congress ENZOEM. 2025. (Poster communication)
- Garcia N.. Principales zoonosis transmitidas por garrapatas en España y Fiebre Q. Jornada de Prevención de Riesgos Biológicos-Bioseguridad. 2025. (Oral communication)
- Galvez-Esteban R., Bermejo-Alvarez P., Garcia N. and Moraleda-Berral P.. Construcción de trampas Flebocollect para la captura de flebotomos. FLEBOCOLLECT: Control de la leishmaniosis y los flebotomos bajo una mirada One Health y STEM. Talleres precongreso ENZOEM I. 2025. (Oral communication)
- Galvez-Esteban R., Bermejo-San Frutos A., Garcia N. and Moraleda-Berral P.. Outbreak: el extraño caso del brote de leishmaniosis de la Comunidad de Madrid. FLEBOCOLLECT: Control de la leishmaniosis y los flebotomos bajo una mirada One Health y STEM. Talleres precongreso ENZOEM I. 2025. (Oral communication)
- Garcia N.. Presentación y evaluación del juego de cartas No todo loCura enfocado a la concienciación y el uso adecuado de antibióticos. Asignatura: El papel de las didácticas de las ciencias experimentales en la sociedad. Máster Universitario en Innovación en Didácticas Específicas. MUIDE. 2024. (Oral communication)
