Scientist revealed that they have found Schistosmiasis parasite eggs in a 6200 year old grave in Syria. It is being considered as the earliest evidence that the agricultural irrigation system in the Middle East is a factor behind the spread of disease.
Schistosmiasis is a disease cause by flatworm parasites which lives inside the blood vessels of the bladder and intestine. There are several other names of this disease like snail fever, bilharzia or Katayama fever. The severity of this infection can also lead to kidney failure, bladder cancer and anemia
The study is printed in the Lancet Infection Disease journal. In this report researchers stated that in ancient Mesopotamia this disease has been spread because of crop irrigation. Mesopotamia is the area along the Tigris- Euphrates river system that corresponds to Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey.
In this infection, parasite digs through the skin of people swimming in the waters. It has turned into a common disease with time since it lives in fresh water snails. Presently it is like a enormous burden disease in the entire world.
As per the reports of the World Health Organization this disease affected approximately 240 million people around the globe and around 700 million people live in endemic regions.
The egg was discovered in the pelvic area of the interment grave, where the intestine and bladder of the person would have been.
The egg was found in the pelvic area of the burial grave, where the intestines and bladder of the person would have been.