A Long View of Zoonotic Disease– Revelatory Parallels and Contrasts: An Ancient/Modern Comparative Analysis

Our article presents an unusually broad and holistic analysis aimed at discerning specific and general patterns from ancient-modern comparative contexts of zoonotic disease. The article’s interdisciplinary and consilient methodology is drawn from a range of disciplines: the humanities and social sciences (particularly historical analysis), medical knowledge (particularly epidemiology and pathology), molecular phylogenetics, demography, archaeology, numismatics, complex systems theory, etc. The article begins with the detailed exploration of a 463 BCE epidemic that likely marked the, ultimately transformative, debut of P. falciparum malaria for ancient Roman civilization. An interdisciplinary retrospective diagnosis methodology is then utilized to establish, with a very high degree of probability, a conclusion that constitutes the ancient side of the equation for our example. This conclusion is used, comparatively, to highlight threats emanating from the current spread of zoonotic P. knowlesi malaria. More broadly, the article, also employing the additional comparative lens of ancient and modern zoonotic pandemics, deduces six holistic concepts: (A) political, military and security contexts; (B) the effects of cultural perceptions; (C) the role of climate; (D) anthropogenic environmental factors; (E) perceptions, practices and capabilities of prevailing medical systems; and (F) holistic underlying states of the health of affected populations that perpetually help shape the parameters and outcomes of the complex relationship between zoonotic disease and human civilization. Such an interdisciplinarity-informed, holistic macro-level view is quite likely to be a necessary guide in the future to overcome past mistakes and better target existing resources given the rising threats from zoonotic diseases.