A comparative study of parasites in three latrines from Medieval and Renaissance Brussels, Belgium (14th–17th centuries)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the species of parasite that infected the population of Brussels during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and determine if there was notable variation between different households within the city. We compared multiple sediment layers from cesspits beneath three different latrines dating from the 14th–17th centuries. Helminths and protozoa were detected using microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We identified Ascaris sp., Capillaria sp., Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Entamoeba histolytica, Fasciola hepatica, Giardia duodenalis, Taenia sp. and Trichuris sp. in Medieval samples, and continuing presence of Ascaris sp., D. dendriticum, F. hepatica, G. duodenalis and Trichuris sp. into the Renaissance. While some variation existed between households, there was a broadly consistent pattern with the domination of species spread by fecal contamination of food and drink (whipworm, roundworm and protozoa that cause dysentery). These data allow us to explore diet and hygiene, together with routes for the spread of fecal–oral parasites. Key factors explaining our findings are manuring practices with human excrement in market gardens, and flooding of the polluted River Senne during the 14th–17th centuries.

Intestinal parasite infection and sanitation in medieval Leiden, the Low Countries

“…The taxonomic diversity of parasites and the dominance of roundworm and whipworm are consistent with previous findings from the Low Countries (Rocha et al 2006;Appelt et al 2014;Deforce et al 2015;Rácz et al 2015;Graff et al 2020;De Cupere et al 2021;Rabinow et al 2023). Roundworm, whipworm and the protozoan Giardia duodenalis are all spread via the faecal-oral route of parasite transmission.…”

“…Whipworm and roundworm eggs were consistently found in all six cesspits in high counts relative to the zoonotic parasites present, as is common in palaeoparasitological studies of medieval populations (Mitchell 2015b). Zoonotic parasites are often present in much lower counts (Graff et al 2020;Rabinow et al 2023). In our study area, zoonotic parasites were not found in every sample, or even in every latrine.…”

“…Eggs from a broad range of endoparasites have been identified in soil samples from cesspits in other regions of the Low Countries (Rocha et al 2006;Appelt et al 2014;Deforce et al 2015;Rácz et al 2015;Graff et al 2020;De Cupere et al 2021;Rabinow et al 2023). The presence of these eggs-and the attendant infection by genera or species of parasites that may be identified-can help us to create a picture of parasitic infection and its interplay with social practices such as diet and sanitation in past populations (Mitchell 2015a(Mitchell , 2023.…”

Towards the comprehension of fasciolosis (re-)emergence: an integrative overview

“…Nevertheless, even when records of the parasite in humans became more evident after their description in the 14th century, fasciolosis was traditionally (and unfortunately still is) considered a veterinary disease. For instance, whereas infection of human European population with Fasciola parasites during medieval and Renaissance periods is accountable today through paleoparasitological studies (Graff et al ., 2020), by late 19th century, the following statement by Wilson (1879): ‘cases of its occurrence as a human parasite were by no means plentifully met with either in purely medical records on the one hand, or in helminthological treatises on the other’, clearly reflects that fasciolosis has been largely overlooked in humans. However, in the 20th century, this zoonosis began to acquire a new connotation within the scientific community due to indistinctive reports of significant numbers of infected people and/or epidemic outbreaks from different regions of the world.…”

Population genomics of ancient and modernTrichuris trichiura

“…Although now generally restricted to tropical and subtropical regions 1 , this parasite was once a globally distributed worm. Parasite eggs have been found in human coprolites (fossilised faeces) from archaeological sites dated back to 7,100 BC [9][10][11] , including sites in Europe and North America where autochthonous infections are now unusual [12][13][14][15][16] . However, whipworms are known to infect a broad range of mammals; over 70 species have been described within the genus Trichuris, and while generally host-specific, cross-host species transmission of individual parasite species have been reported, including between humans and pigs 17 , humans and dogs 18 , or humans and non-human primates [19][20][21][22][23] .…”