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The domestication of goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs occurred in a number of locations in the Near East at this time, and one of the early centers of goat husbandry was in the Zagros Mountains.2 Archaeological research on skeletal pathology has identified an early possible case of human brucellosis in this context.3 The link between brucellosis and the intensification of human–goat relationships in the Neolithic of the Zagros Mountains has been investigated via simulation modeling of the transmission of Brucella melitensis (the main causative agent of brucellosis in humans) in early domestic goat populations described by zooarchaeological data.4 The simulations indicate that the pathogen could have been sustained, even for low levels of transmission, in small domestic goat populations that lie within the likely ranges estimated for these early farming settlements. To date, genetic analyses of archaeological strains of Brucella organisms are relatively few.3 The first sequenced draft genome of Brucella melitensis, derived from a human skeleton from medieval Sardinia (c. 1350–1400 ad), shows a close relationship with modern Italian strains, indicating continuous circulation of this pathogen in the region.5 Future genomic analyses of diachronic strains in relation to long-term changes in cultural practices will elucidate the socioecological relationships that are influencing pathogen emergence, evolution, and spread.5 Understanding socioecological drivers of emergence and re-emergence in the distant past can help contextualize modern changes in human–animal–environment relationships. [...]despite the significant economic and health impacts, public awareness and cooperation with brucellosis eradication programs have often been limited.9,10 Conflict often occurs with cultural and economic practices, such as traditional dairy production.10 This conflict may be linked to failures of didactic approaches relying on the assumption that providing generic knowledge about disease risk and cost-effective measures to mitigate it will result in behavioral change.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 144 small-scale poultry farmers across 42 Bangladeshi villages to explore risk factors associated with avian influenza H5 and H9 seropositivity on backyard chicken farms. Using mixed-effects logistic regression with village as random effect, we identified crow abundance in garbage dumping places and presence of migratory wild birds within villages to be associated with higher odds of H5 and H9 seropositivity. At farm-level, garbage around poultry houses was also associated with higher odds of H5 and H9 seropositivity. In addition, specific trading practices (such as, purchase of chickens from live bird markets (LBM) and neighboring farms to raise them on their own farms, frequency of visits to LBM, purchase of poultry at LBM for consumption) and contact of backyard chickens with other animals (such as, feeding of different poultry species together, using pond water as drinking source for poultry, access of feral and wild animals to poultry houses) were associated with higher odds of H5 or H9 seropositivity. Resource-constrained small-scale poultry farmers should be able to address risk factors identified in this study without requiring large investments into poultry management, thereby reducing the likelihood of avian influenza virus transmission and ultimately occurrence of avian influenza outbreaks.

Abstract Background and Objectives The origin of animal farming is associated with major and inter-related changes in the ecology of humans and animals and new opportunities for pathogens to invade and be sustained in both populations. Understanding these transitions is critical for unravelling the origins and evolution of infectious diseases linked to emergent farming. This study aims to leverage One Health approaches, which recognize the inter-dependencies between the health of humans, animals, and environments, to better understand the ecology of humans, animals, and pathogens during the onset of farming. Methodology This study develops a One Health conceptual framework to explore the interconnected ecological and health impacts of early animal farming. It employs archaeological and contemporary wildlife farming case studies to build this framework. Results One Health frameworks are ideal to situate these changing human-animal-environment relationships in their widest context, allowing interacting processes and their feedback loops to be considered in integrated ways. Combined evaluation of ancient and contemporary emergent farming contexts enables a more inclusive approach, allowing a broader range of ecological and evolutionary insights to be considered. Conclusions and Implications One Health approaches offer a valuable framework for understanding the historical emergence and impact of infectious diseases within farming contexts. By situating ancient interspecies relationships within broader ecological and health contexts, this framework helps investigate complex archaeological contexts and offers useful parallels to contemporary issues in wildlife farming. Insights gained from studying ancient farming systems can inform current health and agricultural policies and contribute to preventing future infectious disease outbreaks. Lay Summary This study examines how early animal farming re-shaped the ecology of humans, animals, and pathogens. Using a One Health approach, it develops a framework to investigate the origins and evolution of infectious diseases, providing better understanding of both ancient and contemporary emergent farming contexts and their epidemiological implications.

Because disease incidence in people is low at present, the focus should move beyond detection of human cases and emergency response towards prevention at the infection source.14 A multisectoral approach would be needed first to identify and then target the inter-related social, economic, cultural, biological, and environmental drivers underlying disease emergence and spread.

Compared to the practices in production and retailing of broiler chickens, the wholesale broiler trade is less well understood. With the increasing concern about zoonotic diseases with pandemic potential transmissible by poultry, especially high pathogenicity avian influenza, it is important to understand how and through what kinds of business models and practices broilers are moved between production areas and cities. Such understanding can contribute to establish tailored surveillance and mitigation approaches. Ethnographic methods are uniquely positioned for gaining in‐depth insights into human practices and the determinants that underpin their persistence and motivate or constrain their change. Ethnography’s potential to contribute to epidemiological risk modelling and dynamic approaches to risk prevention and mitigation, for example through exploring biosecurity practices and the socio‐economic factors influencing them, has been underutilised to date. In this study we took an ethnographic approach to research with wholesale live broiler traders in the South Indian city of Chennai, visiting premises and conducting interviews with interlocutors of 13 broiler wholesale enterprises and some related upstream and downstream actors over a period of 18 months in 2021 and 2022. We describe the business relations between wholesale broiler traders and upstream actors in production whom traders source birds from and their downstream wholesale clients such as retailers, caterers and restaurants. We then discuss traders’ business models and associated broiler procurement and distribution practices from a perspective of disease transmission risks. Further, we show how situating current configurations of wholesale broiler trade within its broader historical trajectory and anticipated future from a Chennai‐centric perspective constitutes important context towards dynamic approaches to assess evolving disease transmission risks in changing poultry production and distribution networks (PDNs). More broadly, the study thus proposes methodological innovations for epidemiology and One Health research by further embedding ethnography and social sciences into their toolkits.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify farm-level risk factors associated with avian influenza A H5 and H9 virus exposure on commercial chicken farms in Bangladesh. For broiler farms, both H5 and H9 seropositivity were associated with visits by workers from other commercial chicken farms [odds ratio (OR) for H5 = 15.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.8–80.8; OR for H9 = 50.1, 95% CI: 4.5–552.7], H5 seropositivity was associated with access of backyard ducks (OR = 21.5, 95% CI: 2.3–201.1), and H9 seropositivity with a number of farm employees (OR = 9.4, 95% CI: 1.1–80.6). On layer farms, both H5 and H9 seropositivity were associated with presence of stray dogs (OR for H5 = 3.1, 95% CI: 1.1–9.1; OR for H9 = 4.0, 95% CI: 1.1–15.3), H5 seropositivity with hatcheries supplying chicks (OR = 0.0, 95% CI: 0.0–0.3), vehicles entering farms (OR = 5.8, 95% CI: 1.5–22.4), number of farm employees (OR = 5.8, 95% CI: 1.2–28.2), and burying of dead birds near farms (OR = 4.6, 95% CI: 1.2–17.3); H9 seropositivity with traders supplying feed (OR = 5.9, 95% CI: 1.0–33.9), visits conducted of other commercial poultry farms (OR = 4.7, 95% CI: 1.1–20.6), number of spent layers sold (OR = 24.0, 95% CI: 3.7–155.0), and frequency of replacing chicken droppings (OR = 28.3, 95% CI: 2.8–284.2). Policies addressing these risk factors will increase the effectiveness of prevention and control strategies reducing the risk of avian influenza on commercial chicken farms.

This paper anthropologically explores how key actors in the Chittagong live bird trading network perceive biosecurity and risk in relation to avian influenza between production sites, market maker scenes and outlets. They pay attention to the past and the present, rather than the future, downplaying the need for strict risk management, as outbreaks have not been reported frequently for a number of years. This is analysed as ‘temporalities of risk perception regarding biosecurity’, through Black Swan theory, the idea that unexpected events with major effects are often inappropriately rationalized (Taleb in The Black Swan. The impact of the highly improbable, Random House, New York, 2007). This incorporates a sociocultural perspective on risk, emphasizing the contexts in which risk is understood, lived, embodied and experienced. Their risk calculation is explained in terms of social consent, practical intelligibility and convergence of constraints and motivation. The pragmatic and practical orientation towards risk stands in contrast to how risk is calculated in the avian influenza preparedness paradigm. It is argued that disease risk on the ground has become a normalized part of everyday business, as implied in Black Swan theory. Risk which is calculated retrospectively is unlikely to encourage investment in biosecurity and, thereby, points to the danger of unpredictable outlier events.

A literature review was conducted to assess the spatiotemporal trend and diversity of infectious agents that were newly found in pigs between 1985 and 2010. We identified 173 new variants from 91 species, of which 73 species had not been previously described in pigs. These new species, of which one third was zoonotic, were taxonomically diverse. They were identified throughout the study period, predominantly in the main pork producing countries, with the rate of discovery of new virus variants doubling within the last 10 years of the study period. Whilst infectious agent species newly detected in high-income countries were more likely to be associated with higher virulence, zoonotic agents prevailed in low- and middle-income countries. Although this trend is influenced by factors conditioning infectious agent detection – diagnostic methods, surveillance efforts, research interests –, it may suggest that different scales and types of production systems promote emergence of certain types of infectious agents. Considering the rapid transformation of the swine industry, concerted efforts are needed for improving our understanding of the factors influencing the emergence of infectious agents. This information then needs to inform the design of risk-based surveillance systems and strategies directly mitigating the risk associated with these factors.

Live animal markets are known hotspots of zoonotic disease emergence. To mitigate those risks, we need to understand how networks shaped by trading practices influence disease spread. Yet, those practices are rarely recorded in high-risk settings. Through a large cross-sectional study, we assessed the potential impact of live poultry trading networks’ structures on avian influenza transmission dynamics in Bangladesh. Networks promoted mixing between chickens sourced from different farming systems and geographical locations, fostering co-circulation of viral strains of diverse origins in markets. Viral transmission models suggested that the observed rise in viral prevalence from farms to markets was unlikely explained by intra-market transmission alone, but substantially influenced by transmission occurring in upstream network nodes. Disease control interventions should therefore alter the entire network structures. However, as networks differed between chicken types and city supplied, standardised interventions are unlikely to be effective, and should be tailored to local structural characteristics.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus subtype H5N1 is endemic in Asia, with live bird trade as a major disease transmission pathway. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in northern Vietnam to investigate the structure of the live bird market (LBM) contact network and the implications for virus spread. Based on the movements of traders between LBMs, weighted and directed networks were constructed and used for social network analysis and individual-based modeling. Most LBMs were connected to one another, suggesting that the LBM network may support large-scale disease spread. Because of cross-border trade, it also may promote transboundary virus circulation. However, opportunities for disease control do exist. The implementation of thorough, daily disinfection of the market environment as well as of traders’ vehicles and equipment in only a small number of hubs can disconnect the network dramatically, preventing disease spread. These targeted interventions would be an effective alternative to the current policy of a complete ban of LBMs in some areas. Some LBMs that have been banned still are very active, and they likely have a substantial impact on disease dynamics, exhibiting the highest levels of susceptibility and infectiousness. The number of trader visits to markets, information that can be collected quickly and easily, may be used to identify LBMs suitable for implementing interventions. This would not require prior knowledge of the force of infection, for which laboratory-confirmed surveillance would be necessary. These findings are of particular relevance for policy development in resource-scarce settings.