Episode 68. Pandemics: Leslie Reperant
Science History Podcast
The Influence of Agriculture and Farming on Pathogens
Agriculture and farming also impacted on those animals that were domesticated but also on other animals that learned to exploit this new habitat. There is a common evolutionary path for many of the species that are associated with the humans in domestic animals crops commensal animals and pathogens common evolutionary changes that allowed them to thrive in the human habitat you recently published a really amazing book about how insects have evolved over time. it's amazing and I would imagine that the the fact that agriculture has to be near water also played a big role because then you get a lot of insects that have an aquatic phase to the life cycle like mosquitoes that that now are near their blood meals and and near their their water breeding source
