Mummified Egyptian Dog Suffered From Tick Bites

PARIS, FRANCE--The mummy of an Egyptian puppy whose left ear was infested with 61 preserved brown dog ticks has been examined by archaeoentomologist Jean-Bernard Huchet of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. This particular puppy may have been killed by a tick-borne disease. “Although the presence of parasites, as well as ectoparasite-borne diseases in ancient times was already suspected from the writings of the major Greek and Latin scholars, these facts were not archaeologically proven until now,” he said. The dog mummy was one of hundreds of dogs that had been found in tombs at the late third-century A.D. Roman fortress at El Deir. Further study of the animals could provide clues about the spread of parasites and disease.