[Editorial] An enduring reminder of the importance of public health (Lancet Infectious Diseases)

January, 2018 marks the 500th anniversary of the first attempts to control by regulation an infectious disease in England. Given its historical importance, it will not surprise readers of The Lancet Infectious Diseases that the disease in question was plague. In January, 1518 a royal proclamation was issued by Henry VIII setting out ways in which plague was to be controlled, such as the marking of affected houses. Although an important milestone in English public health, this was not the first time publicly prescribed precautions against plague had been issued.