News: Multiple parasite infections in Roman soldiers at Vindolanda fort, Hadrian’s Wall
History news from the wires... (Dec 2025) A new study of Roman sewer drains at Vindolanda, near Hadrian’s Wall, has found that soldiers stationed there were infected with multiple intestinal parasites. Sediment from a third-century CE latrine drain revealed roundworm, whipworm and Giardia duodenalis , all spread through poor sanitation and contaminated food or water. While roundworm and whipworm are known from other Roman sites, this is the first evidence of Giardia duodenalis in Roman Britain. Image by Julia Phillips from Pixabay Researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford analysed fifty samples from a nine-metre-long drain serving a communal latrine. Around 28 per cent contained parasite remains, and a further sample from an earlier first-century fort also showed infection. The parasites could have caused chronic illness, including diarrhoea, fatigue and malnutrition, weakening soldiers despite the presence of latrines and sewers. Published in Parasi...