Approaching ancient disease from a One Health perspective: interdisciplinary review for the investigation of zoonotic brucellosis

Bendrey, R; Cassidy, J; Fournié, G; Merrett, D C; Oakes, R; Taylor, M

Abstract

Today, brucellosis is the most common global bacterial zoonosis, bringing with it a range of significant health and economic consequences, yet it is rarely identified from the archaeological record. Detection and understanding of past zoonoses could be improved by triangulating evidence and proxies generated through different approaches. The complex socio‐ecological systems that support zoonoses involve humans, animals, and pathogens interacting within specific environmental and cultural contexts, and as such there is a diversity of potential datasets that can be targeted. To capture this, in this paper we consider how to approach the study of zoonotic brucellosis in the past from a One Health perspective, one which explicitly acknowledges the health link between people, animals and environments (both physical and cultural). One Health research is explicitly interdisciplinary and conceptually moves away from an anthropocentric approach, allowing the component parts to be considered in holistic and integrated ways to deliver more comprehensive understanding. To this end, in this paper we review the methods, selected evidence and potential for past brucellosis identification and understanding, focussing on osteological markers in humans and animals, historical, biomolecular and epidemiological approaches. We also present an agenda and potential for future research.

Citation

Bendrey, R., Cassidy, J., Fournié, G., Merrett, D. C., Oakes, R., & Taylor, M. (2019). Approaching ancient disease from a One Health perspective: interdisciplinary review for the investigation of zoonotic brucellosis. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2837

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 2, 2019
• Publication Date: Nov 12, 2019
• Deposit Date: Nov 15, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 14, 2020
• Journal: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
• Print ISSN: 1047-482X
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2837
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1379789