How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 2018 The Paleoepidemiology of Enterobius vermicularis (Nemata: Oxyuridae) Among the Loma San Gabriel at La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos (600–800 CE), Rio Zape Valley, Durango, Mexico
Johnica J. Morrow, Karl J. Reinhard
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

One hundred coprolites excavated from La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos (600–800 CE) in the Rio Zape Valley of present-day Durango, Mexico, were examined for the presence of helminth eggs utilizing standard archaeoparasitological techniques. Eggs of the human pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis) were recovered from 34 of the 100 coprolites examined. Eggs of parasites were photographed and measured before egg concentration values were calculated for each positive sample. Egg concentration values demonstrated an overdispersed pattern of distribution among the samples (66% uninfected, 25% less than 100 eggs/g, 8% between 100 and 500 eggs/g, and 1% more than 500 eggs/g). Given that only 5% of infected hosts in modern cases of human enterobiasis pass the eggs of parasites in their stools, the recovery of E. vermicularis eggs in 34% of the coprolites supports the conclusion that virtually all of the individuals utilizing the site during the coprolite depositional time frame likely were infected with this parasite. These data are discussed in light of other studies of prehistoric human enterobiasis.

The Helminthological Society of Washington
Johnica J. Morrow and Karl J. Reinhard "The Paleoepidemiology of Enterobius vermicularis (Nemata: Oxyuridae) Among the Loma San Gabriel at La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos (600–800 CE), Rio Zape Valley, Durango, Mexico," Comparative Parasitology 85(1), 27-33, (1 January 2018). https://doi.org/10.1654/1525-2647-85.1.27
Published: 1 January 2018
KEYWORDS
archaeoparasitology
coprolite
Durango
Enterobius vermicularis
La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos
Mexico
paleoepidemiology
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top