Disease Dispersion and Impact in the Indian Ocean World

This volume views the study of disease as essential to understanding the keyhistorical developments underpinning the foundation of contemporary IndianOcean World (IOW) societies. The interplay between disease and climaticconditions, natural and manmade crises and disasters, human migration andtrade in the IOW reveals a wide range of perceptions about disease etiologies andepidemiologies, and debates over the origin, dispersion and impact of diseaseform a central focus in these essays. Incorporating a wide scope of academic andscientific angles including history, social and medical anthropology, archaeology,epidemiology and paleopathology, this collection focuses on diseases that spreadacross time, space and cultures. It scrutinizes disease as an object, and engageswith the subjectivities of afflicted inhabitants of, and travellers to, the IOW.