King Tut's curse, take 2
CMAJ 1999;160:1289
I was intrigued to read an item about King Tut in the "We're not making this up" section of your Holiday Review [full text].1 I've often thought that Lord Carnarvon's death, usually attributed to septicemia occurring after infection through a mosquito bite, could well have been due to anthrax acquired by inhaling spores from inside Pharaoh Tutankhamen's tomb. A malignant pustule in the oropharyngeal area could well produce an illness similar to the tragic event that caused Lord Carnarvon's demise.
Because I have previously made comments about anthrax as a possible cause for Thucydides' syndrome [full text],2 I don't want to be mistaken as a person who sees everything as a nail because his only tool is a hammer. I simply comment that anthrax certainly existed in ancient times and is often assumed to have been responsible for the fifth and sixth plagues of Egypt, which are described in chapter nine of Exodus. Anthrax spores could well have been present in the tomb, and there would have been a real risk of exposure once the ancient dust was stirred.
James McSherry, MB, ChB
Professor of Family Medicine
University of Western Ontario
London, Ont.
mcsherry@julian.uwo.ca
 |
Send a letter to the editor Envoyez une lettre à la rédaction |
References
- Kezwer G. King Tut's curse due to fatal spores? CMAJ 1998;159(12):1451-2.
- McSherry J. Thucydides' syndrome. CMAJ 1998;159(1):21-2.
