Studies on protozoa in ancient remains--a review

Abstract

Paleoparasitological research has made important contributions to the understanding of parasite evolution and ecology. Although parasitic protozoa exhibit a worldwide distribution, recovering these organisms from an archaeological context is still exceptional and relies on the availability and distribution of evidence, the ecology of infectious diseases and adequate detection techniques. Here, we present a review of the findings related to protozoa in ancient remains, with an emphasis on their geographical distribution in the past and the methodologies used for their retrieval. The development of more sensitive detection methods has increased the number of identified parasitic species, promising interesting insights from research in the future.

Fig. 1. paleodistribution of enteric protozoa (white spots) and blood protozoa (black spots) in humans.

Fig. 2. paleodistribution of Trypanosoma cruzi studies in humans (white spots). Grey area approximately represents the current geographic extent of Chagas disease in Central and South America (adapted from Silveira 1999).

Fig. 3. paleodistribution of Plasmodium falciparum studies in humans (white spots). Grey area approximately represents the current geographic distribution of the disease (CDC 2012).

Fig. 4. paleodistribution of Leishmania spp studies in humans (white spots). Grey areas approximately represent the current distribution of visceral leishmaniasis (dark grey) and cutaneous-mucocutaneous (light grey) in the New World.