Diseases such as avian influenza, SARS and drug-resistant tuberculosis have dominated headlines recently. But how much do we really know? How do these diseases spread? What measures are in place to detect, contain or treat these diseases? Is our community ready to respond in the case of an outbreak?

Physician Martha Salyers and veterinarian Jennifer Huffman will address these and other questions during a talk on “Bad Bugs: Defending Against Pandemics” at 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 6, at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center. The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of the N.C. Center for Creative Retirement’s Health Education Series.

Salyers is team leader of the Public Health Regional Surveillance Team 6, a program of the North Carolina Division of Public Health serving the 19 western counties. Her team is charged with preparing for and responding to bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks and other public health threats. Previously, she was chief resident at the MAHEC Family Practice Residency Program, a founding partner of Community Family Practice in Asheville, and medical director of Buncombe County Health Center. Salyers holds a medical degree from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in public health from UNC Chapel Hill.

Huffman currently serves as the western region veterinary specialist for the Emergency Programs Division of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Previously, she acted as an avian diagnostician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Exotic Newcastle Disease Task Force. Huffman holds a veterinary degree from N.C. State University and a certificate in community preparedness and disaster management from UNC Chapel Hill. Recently, she completed a course with the USDA to become familiar with foreign animal diseases.

For more information, call the N.C. Center for Creative Retirement at 828/251-6140.