The information presented here represents preliminary research as the result of ten-weeks of investigation in-residence at the National Museum of Natural History. This is not an official publication of the information.

As preliminary information, results and/or findings should not be cited as part of conclusive work. Please contact the authors first if you wish to utilize the information presented here.

Introduction

The human disease brucellosis is caused by any one of three species of Brucella bacteria: B. melitensis, B. abortus, and B. suis; and often manifests itself in skeletal elements such as the vertebrae and sacroiliac joint.

B. militensis is known to be the most infectious species of Brucella to humans. This strain is carried most commonly by goats, which are known to have been domesticated around 9,000 BP in the Middle East (Zeder, personal communication).

Therefore, it is likely that brucellosis has a long history as a disease affecting human samples, perhaps as much as 9,000 years ago, in areas where domestication was taking place.

In order to understand what the distribution of brucellosis was in antiquity we examined Middle Eastern archaeological human skeletal samples of populations thought to utilize goat products for signs of brucellosis.

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Materials and Methods

We reviewed clinical literature about brucellosis and we studied radiographs of modern cases at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.

We also studied a probable case of brucellosis in a female skeleton from Norway (NMNH 227474) that had been previously described as an example of this disease.

We explored skeletal samples from Middle Eastern archaeological sites to determine if these samples were affected by brucellosis and to clarify the geographic distribution and time depth of the disease.

Finally, we examined five archaeological samples from the Middle East stored in the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Washington D.C.

All sacra and innominates in the collections were examined for lesions on the subchondral surfaces of the sacroiliac joint.

Bones that had lytic foci were radiographed in order to clarify the nature of the lesion, particularly the presence of a sclerotic margin.

Table 1- Samples studied.

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Results and Discussion

Four innominates from Egyptian samples were found to have lytic lesions in the auricular surface of the bone (Fig.1).

Radiographs show that only one left female innominate (NMNH258586f) from the 25th dynastic Egyptian sample showed the typical sclerotic margin around the lytic lesion associated with a brucellar infection (Fig.2).

The minimum number of individuals from the 25th dynastic Egyptian collection was 19, thus the prevalence of sacroilitis, characteristic of brucellosis, was 5.2% of this sample.

Today brucellosis is known to be endemic in many countries world wide including: Spain, Peru, Sudan, Cameroon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Israel, Turkey, and Russia (Rajapakse, 1995).

In the Mediterranean and Middle East the incidence varies from .001% to .5% and in the Arabian peninsula the prevalence is 20% (Centers of Disease Control 2001).

However, it is possible that a prevalence of 5.2% out of 19 individuals is an underestimate of the number of individuals infected with brucellosis for two reasons:

• brucellosis is treatable today with antibiotic intervention so the prevalence could well have been higher in antiquity
  
• the sacroiliac joint is only affected in about 20% of individuals suffering from brucellosis (Ortner 2002, Zaks et. al. 1995, Colmenero et. al.1991a, in McGill et.al.1995, Khateeb et. al in McGill et.al.1995).
  

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Conclusions

The innominate found with sacroilitis demonstrates that brucellosis may
have been infecting people living in the El Baquat locality of Upper Egypt during the 25th dynasty.

A 5.2% prevalence of sacroilitis in the El Baquat sample suggests that brucellosis was endemic to about the same degree as in modern Arabia.

In the future, more research can be done on the antiquity of brucellosis using samples from populations dating back to 9,000 BP highlighting the complex relationship that is spawned from the development of human domestication of animals.

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Acknowledgments

My sincere thanks to: Dr. Don Ortner, Julia Fan, Agnes Stix, Caley Orr, the National Museum of Natural History and Mary Sangrey.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, Award Number DBI-9820303.

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Literature Cited

• McGILL, PE & Adebajo AO 1995 Bacterial infections: osteoarticular brucellosis. Clinical Rheumatology 9(1) 161-177.
• ORTNER, DJ & Putschar GJ 2002 Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains Reprint edition of Smithsonian contributions to anthropology 28 Smithsonian Institution Press Washington & London
  Rajapakse CNA 1995 Bacterial infections: Osteoarthicular brucellosis Clinical Rheumatology 9(1) 161-177.
  
• ZAKS, N Sukenik S Alkan M Flusser D Neumann & Buskila D 1995 Musculoskeletal Manifestations of Brucellosis: A Study of 90 Cases in Isreal Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism 25(2) 97-102.

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ENTOMOLOGY

Sarah Garrett
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