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Document Details : Title: Maškadum and Other Zoonotic Diseases in Medical and Literary Akkadian Sources Author(s): WASSERMAN, Nathan Journal: Bibliotheca Orientalis Volume: 69 Issue: 5-6 Date: 2012 Pages: 426-436 DOI: 10.2143/BIOR.69.5.2967225 Abstract : Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases due to etiological agents that pass from animals to humans, affecting both the humans and the animal. Their pathogens may be bacteria, viruses, parasites or prions, for which a wide variety of animals – wild, domesticated or peri-domesticated – serve as reservoir. The mode of transmission of the pathogens from the reservoir to the human host varies: infection through skin lesions, bites, inhalation of aerosols, contact with feces, or consumption of foodstuffs. Zoonotic diseases pose a persistent threat. Turning to cuneiform sources, there is a small group of Old Babylonian medical incantations that list diseases which affect both humans and livestock. |
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