> [!quote] [[When did people start freaking out about mice and rats via AskHistorians]] > There is some evidence, dating back to Babylonia in the 19th century BCE that it was known dogs could develop a condition of "madness" which could be transmitted to humans, and that's almost certainly talking about rabies. At its most basic level, we have had the idea that a condition can be transmitted from animal to human for thousands of years. Probably pretty relevant for [[Ancient Mesopotamian epidemics lecture by Troels Arboll]]