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Though they've been dead for nearly 1,500 years, a group of African mummies is telling us a lot about the source and spread of a modern plague.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, schistosomiasis is disease caused by parasitic worms that live in certain types of freshwater snails. The worm comes out of the snail and contaminates the water, and anyone unfortunate enough to come in contact with that water will take home the lovely parasite as well.
Often in the case of prehistoric populations, we tend to assume that they were at the mercy of the environment, and that their circumstances were a given. Our study suggests that, just like people today, these ancient individuals were capable of altering the environment in ways that impacted their health.
–Amber Campbell Hibbs
Irrigation can trigger a spurt in the snail population -- exposing more people to the disease.
Never heard of it? Consider yourself lucky. An estimated 200 million people are infected with it today, most prominently in Africa, Asia and South America.
The effects are anything but fun -- infection can cause anemia, chronic illness, growth impairment and organ damage. If that's not enough, those infected are at a higher risk for contracting other diseases as well.
It's so damaging, in fact, that schistosomiasis, along with malaria, is considered one of the most socio-economically damaging parasitic diseases in the world.
So what do mummies have to do with all this? A new study out of Emory University reveals that botched irrigation techniques along the Nile River may have contributed to the massive spread of this plague.
Researchers behind the study, published this week in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, analyzed mummies from two different populations of Nubia -- an ancient kingdom that once stood in what is now Sudan. One group -- which thrived 1,200 years ago -- likely did not practice irrigation, while the other group -- which lived 1,500 years ago -- did.
Researchers discovered that a quarter of the mummies from the irrigation population carried the schistosomiasis parasite. That's compared to the mere 9 percent of the other group infected with the disease -- a telling difference.
"Often in the case of prehistoric populations, we tend to assume that they were at the mercy of the environment, and that their circumstances were a given," said Emory graduate student and study leader Amber Campbell Hibbs. "Our study suggests that, just like people today, these ancient individuals were capable of altering the environment in ways that impacted their health."
"We hope that understanding the impact of schistosomiasis in the past may help in finding ways to control what is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases in the world today," she continued.
Let's end on a quirky note, shall we?
Researchers say the Nubians were likely better equipped to battle the disease than other populations living at that time, thanks to, of all things, the beer they drank. Studies have shown the brew contained tetracycline -- an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections.
Email:jrogers@ksl.com
