Ancient disease and One Health: Integrating ancient -omics and paleopathology to address contemporary infectious disease risks within One Paleopathology.

OBJECTIVE

To explore methodological complications of One Paleopathology and highlight potential pathways for accommodating, circumventing, and overcoming these challenges.

MATERIALS: We review published research and present two case studies on 1) recovering avian influenza virus sequences from formalin-fixed, ethanol-preserved tissues in wild waterfowl and 2) reconstructing oral microbiomes from dental calculus in California sea lions.

METHODS

We synthesize methodological challenges identified in the literature and use case studies to examine limitations associated with preservation, sample selection, pathogen and microbiome recovery and analysis, and interpretation.

RESULTS

The case studies illustrate challenges in recovering endogenous ancient RNA and DNA from historic animal specimens, including degradation, contamination, limited reference databases, and substrate-specific constraints. They also demonstrate how integrating diverse data types and sources can complicate interpretation of past host-environment-animal-plant-pathogen (HEAPP) interactions.

CONCLUSIONS

One Paleopathology offers valuable opportunities to integrate evolutionary, One Health, paleopathological, and ancient -omics perspectives, but requires careful consideration of methodological constraints and ethical imperatives.

SIGNIFICANCE: Addressing the highlighted complications can strengthen One Paleopathology's ability to generate insights relevant to contemporary infectious disease research, public health, clinical practice, and pandemic preparedness.

LIMITATIONS: Sample availability and molecular preservation, reference databases, and current analytical methods constrain our abilities to identify microbes involved in past HEAPP interactions.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Future research should expand genetic sequence and microbiome reference libraries, improve sampling and authentication strategies, identify optimal substrates for molecular analysis, and model ethical science for integrating diverse evidence within One Paleopathology.