Osteoarchaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Lilla Frescativägen 7, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
Int J Paleopathol. 2021 Jun;33:13-24. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpp.2021.02.001. Epub 2021 Feb 26.
This paper seeks to review the possibilities and difficulties in identifying rare diseases in ancient animals. Rare diseases are important in human medicine but seldom discussed in modern veterinary practice.
A total of 1348 pathological archaeozoological remains, most published in the literature, are evaluated. With the exception of a few animal burials, the majority were recovered from food refuse: deposits composed of co-mingled, single bone fragments.
Determination of population-based prevalence is not applicable in animal paleopathology, as almost all lesions occur on isolated bones. Moreover, grave hereditary diseases are rarely detected on animal bones because animals with such disorders seldom survived, except when humans promoted their rare inherited traits.
Rare diseases form a special category in human pathology posing both therapeutic and ethical challenges. While in wild animals natural selection tends to prevent the inheritance of such conditions, curious cases of animal morbidity have been brought about by domestication. Humans sheltered animals of lesser vitality and sometimes even promoted their negative traits. Understanding these phenomena in animal paleopathology will help fine-tuning the rare disease paradigm.
The definition of rare disease in animal paleopathology can only be assessed based on ancient and modern human correlates, and rare variation could become cultivated traits, ultimately developed into part of "normal" variability as trademark breed characteristics. Taphonomic limitations in recovering osteological evidence of debilitating hereditary diseases in animals are unlikely to improve. Suggestions for further research: Further research will need to focus on the scarce osteological evidence for rare conditions in light of differential diagnoses. The concept of "rare disease" may be worth expanding beyond hereditary conditions in animals considering fundamental differences between past animal and human lifeways.
本文旨在探讨在古代动物中识别罕见疾病的可能性和困难。罕见疾病在人类医学中很重要，但在现代兽医实践中很少讨论。
共评估了 1348 例病理考古动物遗骸，其中大部分已在文献中发表。除了少数动物埋葬外，大多数遗骸都来自于食物残渣：由混合的、单一骨碎片组成的沉积物。
在动物古病理学中，基于人群的患病率的确定是不适用的，因为几乎所有病变都发生在孤立的骨骼上。此外，由于具有此类疾病的动物很少存活，除了人类促进其罕见的遗传特征外，遗传性疾病很少在动物骨骼上被发现。
罕见疾病在人类病理学中形成一个特殊类别，既带来治疗上的挑战，也带来伦理上的挑战。虽然在野生动物中，自然选择倾向于防止此类情况的遗传，但由于驯化，动物的一些奇特疾病病例已经出现。人类庇护生命力较弱的动物，有时甚至促进其负面特征。了解动物古病理学中的这些现象将有助于微调罕见疾病的范式。
在动物古病理学中，罕见疾病的定义只能基于古代和现代人类的相关性来评估，并且罕见的变异可能会成为培育的特征，最终发展成为“正常”变异性的一部分，成为标志性品种特征。从恢复动物遗传性衰弱疾病的骨骼证据的考古局限性来看，这种情况不太可能改善。进一步研究的建议：进一步的研究将需要根据鉴别诊断，针对罕见疾病的骨骼证据稀缺的情况进行研究。考虑到过去动物和人类生活方式之间的根本差异，“罕见疾病”的概念可能值得在动物的遗传性疾病之外进一步扩展。
