Korean J Parasitol.  2011 Sep;49(3):323-326. 10.3347/kjp.2011.49.3.323.

Enterobius vermicularis Eggs Discovered in Coprolites from a Medieval Korean Mummy

• Shin DH
• Oh CS
• Chai JY
• Lee HJ
• Seo M

• KMID: 1715661
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2011.49.3.323

Abstract

While the presence of pinworm eggs in archaeological samples has been reported by many researchers in the New World, those have been detected very scarcely in the Old World, especially in East Asian countries. In fact, many parasite species were recovered from the archeological remains in Korea, eggs of Enterobius vermicularis had not been found. Recently, a female mummy buried in the 17th century was discovered in the Joseon tomb from Dangjin-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea. After rehydration process for 12 days, investigations were carried on the luminal surface of the colon. From them, 3 eggs of E. vermicularis were recovered. They were elliptical, transparent with a thin egg shell, 50.3+/-5.2 microm (length) and 28.2+/-3.9 microm (width) in size. This is the first discovery of E. vermicularis eggs in East Asia.

Keyword

Enterobius vermicularis; mummy; egg; 17th century

MeSH Terms

Animals
Colon/parasitology
Enterobius/*isolation & purification
Female
Humans
Mummies/*parasitology
Ovum