2,500-year-old poop from Jerusalem toilets contain oldest evidence of dysentery parasite

We see a stone block with a hole in the middle. It is surrounded by other stone blocks.

By analyzing poop from biblical-era toilets in Jerusalem, archaeologists have discovered the oldest known evidence of a tiny parasite that causes "traveler's diarrhea," a new study finds.

This microscopic parasite, the protozoan Giardia duodenalis, can cause dysentery, an intestinal infection that results in severe, bloody diarrhea and is often accompanied by stomach cramps and a fever. The new research, published May 26 in the journal Parasitology, dates the oldest evidence of this protozoan in human feces to more than 2,500 years ago.