Intestinal Parasites in an Ottoman Period Latrine from Acre (Israel) Dating to the Early 1800s CE

Eskew, William H.; Ledger, Marissa L.; Lloyd, Abigail; Pyles, Grace; Gosker, Joppe; Mitchell, Piers D.

doi:10.3347/kjp.2019.57.6.575

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…G. lamblia , G. intestinalis , G. enterica ) so far identified in a past population anywhere in the world. It has previously been identified in Roman period Turkey and also in Israel during the medieval and Ottoman periods (Mitchell et al ., 2008 ; Yeh et al ., 2015 ; Williams et al ., 2017 ; Eskew et al ., 2019 ). In light of this, these results from Iron Age Jerusalem likely indicate the long-term presence of this parasite in the populations of the Near East.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Giardia duodenalis and dysentery in Iron Age Jerusalem (7th–6th century BCE)

Mitchell,

Wang,

Billig

et al. 2023

Parasitology

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The aim of this study was to determine if the protozoa that cause dysentery might have been present in Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, during the Iron Age. Sediments from 2 latrines pertaining to this time period were obtained, 1 dating from the 7th century BCE and another from the 7th to early 6th century BCE. Microscopic investigations have previously shown that the users were infected by whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), Taenia sp. tapeworm and pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis). However, the protozoa that cause dysentery are fragile and do not survive well in ancient samples in a form recognizable using light microscopy. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits designed to detect the antigens of Entamoeba histolytica, Cryptosporidium sp. and Giardia duodenalis were used. Results for Entamoeba and Cryptosporidium were negative, while Giardia was positive for both latrine sediments when the analysis was repeated three times. This provides our first microbiological evidence for infective diarrhoeal illnesses that would have affected the populations of the ancient near east. When we integrate descriptions from 2nd and 1st millennium BCE Mesopotamian medical texts, it seems likely that outbreaks of dysentery due to giardiasis may have caused ill health throughout early towns across the region.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Giardia duodenalis and dysentery in Iron Age Jerusalem (7th–6th century BCE)

Mitchell,

Wang,

Billig

et al. 2023

Parasitology

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“…Moreover, immunofluorescence assays (IFAs) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) have been used for the detection of intestinal protozoa, such as Giardia spp. [84,[91][92][93][94][95], Cryptosporidium spp. [84,95,96], and Entamoeba histolytica [93][94][95]97,98].…”

Section: Microscopic and Immunoassay Analysis On Coprolitesmentioning

confidence: 99%