The contribution of animal domestication to the spread of zoonoses: a case study from the Southern Levant

The advent of animal domestication was associated with marked changes in human-animal interactions, a process that had a significant impact on both parties. In animals these changes are expressed in features such as biogeography, morphometry and pathology. In humans they are reflected in changes in health, disease and demography as well as in social complexity. Current research on the origin and spread of emerging diseases, suggests that many infectious diseases common today originated in the process of.animal domestication. The archaeological record of the Southern Levant (Lebanon, Southern Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Sinai Peninsula) provides an example of the possible role of animal domestication in spreading zoonoses.