Burial chamber brings 3200 year old cheese with dangerous bacterium to light

The oldest cut cheese in the world was found in an Egyptian tomb

Often, the taste of cheese is better through a maturing process, but this cheese was probably a little too long. Researchers discovered a 3,200-year-old cheese in an Egyptian tomb, which was apparently intended as a way to feed the passage into the realm of the dead. The discoverers report that this is the oldest hard cheese ever found, including an ancient bacterium that can cause serious infectious diseases.

It was the tomb of Ptahmes, the mayor of Memphis in Egypt, who worked around 3200 years ago. Among the grave goods, the researchers found an ancient cheese - the oldest hard cheese found so far. In laboratory analyzes, the scientists also found evidence that the cheese is contaminated with an ancient bacterium of the type Brucella melitensis, which can cause the dangerous infectious disease brucellosis. The research report was recently published in the journal "Analytical chemistry".

Ancient cheese lovers: Archaeologists discover a 3,200 year old cheese with a dangerous bacterium in the grave chamber of an ancient Mayor of Memphis. (Image: pilipphoto / fotolia.com)

In the footsteps of the pharaohs

The grave of the mayor was already discovered in 1885 and excavated. A short time later, however, it was spilled under quicksand. It was rediscovered in 2010. The archaeologists found some broken glasses in the tomb. A glass contained a solidified whitish mass in a linen fabric. At first, the team around Enrico Greco did not know what the substance was and analyzed it in the lab.

The oldest cheese in the world

As the analyzes showed, the find was a dairy product made from sheep and goat's milk. In addition, the team led by Enrico Greco found a peptide that indicates the presence of the bacterium Brucella melitensis. This can trigger the dangerous disease Brucellosis. The researchers report that this is also the oldest evidence of this bacterium.

Ancient killer bacteria

Brucellosis is a potentially deadly disease that belongs to the so-called zoonoses. These are diseases that can spread from animals to humans. Typically, humans become infected via contaminated food, such as pasteurized milk product. The findings represent the oldest biomolecule detection of the disease, the researchers report.

About brucellosis

As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reports, brucellosis is a disease that is common in domestic and farm animals worldwide - but mainly in the Mediterranean, in the Arabian Peninsula, in Africa, Asia, Central and South America. In Germany, farm animals such as cattle, sheep and goats are considered free of the bacterium. Nevertheless, according to RKI, there are occasionally imported cases.

What is a brucellosis??

People get ill primarily by eating contaminated food or by direct contact with infected animals. After an incubation period of five to 60 days, brucellosis will break out. Symptoms include fever, nausea and vomiting, tiredness, headache and nocturnal sweating. The fever can persist for a long period of up to 21 days. After the symptoms have resolved, about five percent of those affected experience a chronic course.

Brucellosis can sometimes be fatal

In the case of unrecognized or incorrectly treated infections, longer disease courses are not uncommon, explains the RKI. Chronic brucellosis can lead to decreased performance and depression. In rare cases, the bacteria infest the bone marrow, threatening anemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Furthermore, inflammation of the heart's lining (endocarditis) is also possible. According to RKI data, about two percent of untreated brucellosis cases are fatal. (Vb)