A Possible Case of Coccidioides Infection in a Thirteenth-Century Bolivian Mummy

Abstract

Coccidioidomycosis is an infectious fungal disease endemic in Bolivia's Gran Chaco region that is caused by inspiration of the spores of Coccidiodes species. It is a respiratory pathology that can spread to the skeleton and produce diffuse lytic lesions in different parts of the body. This disease has rarely been described in historic populations, and we present here a new case of coccidioidomycosis in a mummified human individual. It corresponds to a female individual with an age at death of 25–35 years, dated to the Tiwanaku epoch of the thirteenth century AD. It was found inside a sepulchral cave near the city of Ulloma in western Bolivia. Radiographic examination shows numerous osseous lytic lesions with central cavitation concentrated on the cranial table and vertebral bodies. The observed condition could correspond to the secondary phase of coccidioidomycosis. This diagnosis is noteworthy because coccidioidomycosis was mainly described as a male work-related disease and has never been found in ancient western Bolivia.