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

The journal of physiological sciences

article

William H. Eskew¹  Marissa L. Ledger¹  Abigail Lloyd¹  Grace Pyles¹  Joppe Gosker²  Piers D. Mitchell¹ 

[1] Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge;Israel Antiquities Authority

关键词: Dysentery;    Mediterranean;    Ottoman Empire;    ELISA;    helminth;    paleoparasitology;    protozoa;   

DOI  :  10.3347/kjp.2019.57.6.575

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

The aim of this study is to determine the species of parasites that affected the inhabitants of the city of Acre on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean during the Ottoman Period. This is the first archaeological study of parasites in the Ottoman Empire. We analysed sediment from a latrine dating to the early 1800s for the presence of helminth eggs and protozoan parasites which caused dysentery. The samples were examined using light microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. We found evidence for roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), fish tapeworm (Dibothriocephalus sp.), Taenia tapeworm (Taenia sp.), lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum), and the protozoa Giardia duodenalis and Entamoeba histolytica. The parasite taxa recovered demonstrate the breadth of species present in this coastal city. We consider the effect of Ottoman Period diet, culture, trade and sanitation upon risk of parasitism in this community living 200 years ago.

【 授权许可】

Unknown