ABSTRACT
Background Archeological evidence in Africa and China indicates that the parasitic trema-
tode infection schistosomiasis has been part of human life for at least four millennia.1n 1852. Dr. Theodore BiIharz. a German physician working in Egypt. first described the presence of adult worms in postmortem examinations of affected patients and since then. the disease is often referred to generically as 'Bilharziasis'. It was not until a half-century later (in 1907) that Dr. Patrick Manson defined the existence of different Schistosoma species and later in 1908. Sambon established the distinct species we now call Schistosoma mansoni.
