There were a number of diseases caused by water and food contamination, notably intestinal ailments and parasitic infestations, especially worms, as the mummies have shown.  Fevers were frequent killers in Egypt, though malaria was less of a threat there than in Greece or India of this period.  Diseases of the eyes were frequent and included such illnesses as trachoma, night blindness, cataracts, and distortions of the eyelids. Pathologic findings in mummies prove that the Egyptians suffered from arteriosclerosis and occasional epidemics of smallpox and the plague.