ABSTRACT

Enterobiasis, pinworm or threadworm disease, is caused by a small nematode, Enterobius vermicularis, also named Oxyuris vermicularis. This parasite infects man only and animals have no place in the life cycle of the worm. There are related species, however, that can infect animals such as chimpanzees and gibbons. Enterobiasis is a very old disease. Enterobius vermicularis eggs have been found in a coprolite carbon in Utah, United States, and been dated to 7837 BC. The worm was described and characterized in 1758 by Linnaeus (Cook 1994).