Latest report on Egyptian mummies

Scans on mummies using computer topography, electron microscopes and x-rays show little tooth decay but lots of microbial hitchhikers, the report in the Lancet medical journal said.

The desiccated remains of 4,000 year-old Egyptians have turned up the bug that causes trichinosis food poisoning, Guinea worms, the parasite that causes malaria, Rosaly David of Manchester University Museum wrote.

There is Generally a notable absence of disease such as cancer, syphilis, tuberculosis and rickets, but not infrequent evidence of pathogenic parasites she wrote.

At least two mummies had calcium deposits in their bladders, suggesting they had been infected with the parasitic worm that causes schistosomiasis or bilharzia.