Scientists have found that microbes extracted from a 5,300-year-old mummy have shown that he suffered from a stomach bug before his death. Researchers said that Oetzi the Iceman, the name which scientists gave to the frozen body found in 1991 in the Alps, suffered a bacterial infection that is quite common in the present era.

He has died 5,300 years earlier after getting struck by an arrow. Published in the journal Science, the latest study has suggested that he had an infection that can result into stomach ulcers and gastritis.

They carried out a genetic analysis of the bacteria with a motive to trace the history of the microbe, which is closely associated with human migration history. Using the frozen corpse of Oetzi, scientists have got a chance to look back at his life in extraordinary detail.

Prof Albert Zink, EURAC said, “One of the first challenges was to obtain samples from the stomach without doing any damage to the mummy”.

According to previous research, he belonged to the age group of 40-50 years, had brown eyes, had tattoo-covered body and had eaten ibex recently.

When researchers found him he had an arrow in his left shoulder, and the most probable cause of his death was blood loss. But, he also had other medical issues such as arthritis, heel fractures and possibly Lyme disease.

Adding to his health woes, now scientists have detected the Helicobacter pylori bacteria. The head of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, at the European Academy in Bolzano (EURAC), Prof Albert Zink, said that one of the initially challenges they faced was to get samples from the stomach without harming the mummy.

Thus, they defrosted the mummy completely, and finally got access by an opening, by an incision done by an earlier study.