Evidence of Tungiasis in Pre-Hispanic America

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Maco, Vicente ; Tantaleán, Manuel ; Gotuzzo, Eduardo
• Description:
  Ancient parasites of the genus Tunga originated in America and, during the first half of the 19th century, were transported to the Eastern Hemisphere on transatlantic voyages. Although they were first documented by Spanish chroniclers after the arrival of Columbus, little is known about their presence in pre-Hispanic America. To evaluate the antiquity of tungiasis in America, we assessed several kinds of early documentation, including written evidence and pre-Incan earthenware reproductions. We identified 17 written documents and 4 anthropomorphic figures, of which 3 originated from the Chimu culture and 1 from the Maranga culture. Tungiasis has been endemic to Peru for at least 14 centuries. We also identified a pottery fragment during this study. This fragment is the fourth representation of tungiasis in pre-Hispanic America identified and provides explicit evidence of disease endemicity in ancient Peru.
• Subjects:
  Archaeology Endemic Diseases History, 15th Century History, 16th Century History, 17th Century History, 18th Century History, 19th Century History, 20th Century History, Ancient History, Medieval Humans

  More +
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 17(5):855-862.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Genre:
  Historical Review
• Place as Subject:
  Peru ; South America
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  5
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:c5aa522a5339e89193d30c77852f95c3353a7173a63fc45ba91d0833c3e6e7db
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/24342/cdc_24342_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 665.72 KB ]