A McMaster researcher has discovered evidence of intestinal parasites in a 500-year-old latrine in Bruges, Belgium, and while the find may make some nauseous, it is hoped it will provide important scientific evidence about how infectious diseases once spread. through travel and trade. .
The findings, which have been published in the journal parasitologypresent some of the first evidence of schistosomiasis outside its endemic region of Africa.
“Many of the parasites we see today have been around for centuries. One of our goals in infectious disease studies is to understand where in the world people had these parasites in the past and how their epidemiology has changed over time,” he says. Marissa Ledger, a postdoctoral fellow at McMaster’s Ancient DNA Center, who led the research.
Schistosomiasis is caused by schistosoma mansonia waterborne parasitic flatworm that can penetrate the skin, move through the bloodstream and settle in the intestines. There it reproduces and releases eggs, which pass through human waste. Ledger discovered an egg preserved in the contents of a 15th19th century latrine in present-day Belgium, thousands of kilometers from its endemic region.
The latrine had been discovered in an excavation in 1996, but its artefacts and organic remains were recently examined as part of a wider research project at Ghent University focusing on the numerous foreign communities living and trading in medieval Bruges and its surroundings. ancient port cities.
Researchers say that the latrine came from a house known as the house of the Spanish nation, the administrative headquarters and meeting place of the Castilian mercantile community. The parasite in question is probably associated with one of these Spanish traders who facilitated the importation of African products such as gold dust, ivory and various spices. There is also evidence that they were involved in the early Atlantic slave trade.
The combination of this rich historical record with archaeological and parasitological data is quite unique and helps us better understand human migration and disease transmission in the past and underlines the historical importance of this Belgian-Canadian collaboration.
“Our findings speak to the complexity of medieval urban life and how interconnected this world was centuries ago. It not only provides a novel insight into the daily lives of people in medieval Bruges, but also shows how the city, known “As an international hub for people, goods and ideas, it inevitably also facilitated the spread of disease through its strong maritime trade networks,” says Maxime Poulain, an archaeologist at Ghent University.
It also demonstrates the importance of the analysis of organic remains from this type of archaeological finds, since it can provide information on the health, hygiene and mobility of populations.
Ledger plans to analyze the genetics of the parasite to understand how its composition compares to that of its modern counterparts.
“Understanding these parasites in a broader time frame provides more information about how they are affected by factors such as migration. Even in the past, when people migrated over these long distances, they still very effectively carried infectious diseases to over long distances. That’s incredibly useful to know.”