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Mexican government experts have announced that they are concerned that a traveling exhibition of nineteenth-century mummies, "The Mummies of Guanajuato" could pose a health risk to the public since one of them is developing a variety of fungi that could infect humans, according to the National Institute of Anthropology and History.
The preserved corpses were unintentionally mummified when they were buried in crypts in dry, mineral-rich soil in the state of Guanajuato. Some still have hair, tanned skin and their original clothes.
"From some of the published photos, at least one of the corpses on display, which was inspected by the institute in November 2021, shows signs of proliferation of possible fungal colonies," the Institute reported.
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"It is concerning that they are still on display without the safeguards for the public against biological risks. All of this needs to be studied carefully to see if they are signs of risk to the cultural legacy, as well as to those who manage them and come to see them," he added.
The mummies are usually exhibited in the state capital of Guanajuato, but some were exhibited in the United States in 2009.
They were naturally preserved, some say because of the climate, the mineral-rich environment, others because of the sealed crypts, although no one knows for sure. They were dug up starting in the 1860s, because their families could no longer afford burial fees, and they were put on display.
According to The Trust Project criteria
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