ASPECTS OF INGESTION TRANSMISSION OF CHAGAS DISEASE IDENTIFIED IN MUMMIES AND THEIR COPROLITES
Author
Aufderheide,Arthur C.
Salo,Wilmar
Madden,Michael
Streitz,John
Dittmar de la Cruz,Katharina
Buikstra,Jane
Arriaza,Bernardo
Wittmers, Jr.,Lorentz E.
Abstract
Molecular study of Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) anciant DNA (aDNA) in the soft (nonskeletal) tissues of 283 naturally (spontaneously) mummified bodies from coastal sites located in southern Peru and northern Chile demonstrated a Chagas disease prevalence rate of about 41% over the past 9,000 years. This rate is similar to that of several endemic areas within this region prior to initiation of public health control programs. This report focuses on the presence of T. cruzi aDNA in the coprolites of some of these mummies. Review of the possible mechanisms that may explain the presence of this parasite in the coprolites indicates numerous antemortem and postmortem circumstances that conceivably could have been responsible. In given conditions, all of these may need to be considered. These considerations indicate that the presence of T. cruzi aDNA in mummy coprolites cannot categorically be considered as evidence of ingestion of the parasite