Brucellosis: Presence of zoonosis infection 3 500 years ago in North of Iran

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the presence of brucellosis in graved human and animal buried in the same graves around 3 500 years ago. Methods: Two ancient graves in AH2XX1 trench in Gohar Tepe (Behshahr, North of Iran) in which human and animal were buried in single grave were selected for this study. After DNA extraction from human and animal tooth samples, TaqMan real time polymerase chain reaction method was utilized to check and measure the presence of brucellae bacteria. Results: Brucellosis was found in human with 3.9أ—105 copy/0.05 gr and in animal with 6.5أ—103 copy/0.05 gr in grave one. In grave two, 2.6أ—105 copy/0.05 gr in human and 7.7أ—103 copy/0.05 gr in animal were found. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the presence of brucellosis infections in this region in 3 500 years ago. Also, it showed that the transmission of brucellosis in Gohar Tepe might be due to the frequent use of milk and meat as the main energy source by the residents. Although previous research claimed that brucellosis was limited to the European continent in the Middle Bronze Age, the current research showed the presence of brucellosis in Middle East region. An advantage of this study over previous research is the use of real time polymerase chain reaction which is more rigorous for studying the presence of brucellae in ancient objects compared to Paleopathological method. é 2014 Asian Pacific Tropical Medicine Press.