Zoonotic diseases—human diseases of animal origin—represent one of the world's greatest health challenges, both today and in the past. Since the Neolithic, zoonotic diseases have been one of the major factors shaping and influencing human adaptation. Archaeology is ideally situated to provide the long view on human–animal–pathogen relationships through combining cultural, environmental and biological datasets, yet long-term studies of linked human and animal records have often been overlooked and undertheorized. The seven papers in this special issue “Zoonotic diseases: New directions in human–animal pathology” cover a range of diseases caused by bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens, from case studies drawn from across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. They speak to the diversity of human–animal–environment interactions that shaped disease emergence and transmission. They also review methodological advancements relating to disease identification and interpretation and discuss interdisciplinary approaches to effectively investigate these complex processes in the past. This introduction highlights their key themes and outcomes and identifies research priorities moving forward.

中文翻译：

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人畜共患疾病：人类-动物病理学的新方向

人畜共患疾病——源自动物的人类疾病——是当今和过去世界上最大的健康挑战之一。自新石器时代以来，人畜共患病一直是塑造和影响人类适应能力的主要因素之一。考古学的理想位置是通过结合文化、环境和生物数据集来提供关于人类-动物-病原体关系的长期观点，但对相关人类和动物记录的长期研究经常被忽视和理论化不足。本期特刊“人畜共患病：人类-动物病理学的新方向”中的七篇论文涵盖了由细菌、病毒和寄生虫病原体引起的一系列疾病，来自欧洲、亚洲、非洲和美洲的案例研究。他们谈到了影响疾病出现和传播的人类-动物-环境相互作用的多样性。他们还回顾了与疾病识别和解释相关的方法学进展，并讨论了过去有效调查这些复杂过程的跨学科方法。本介绍突出了他们的关键主题和成果，并确定了未来的研究重点。