THEODOR MAXIMILLIAN BILHARZ (1825-1862): THE DISCOVERER OF SCHISTOSOMIASIS

Theodor Bilharz (1825-1862) is one of the founders of tropical medicine. He is best remembered for his discovery of the Schistosomiasis worm. During his short life span, he received his medical degree in Tubingen then specialized in anatomy and microscopy in Freiburg. In 1850, he was sent by his professor von Siebold to Egypt in order to investigate the worms which infest the Egyptian population. By 1853, Bilharz was able to identify the worms and their eggs in the bladder and the liver and to describe the disease which remains his enduring scientific legacy. In 1856, the disease was named Bilharzia as designated by Meckel von Hembach. His discovery of Schistosoma was just a part of his contribution in science. Bilharz worked for over a decade on the study of ethnology, geography and ecology. He also discovered Heterophyes Heterophes and Hymenolepis nana in the human intestine. His death in 1862 during an outbreak of typhoid in Egypt when he was helping people suffering from the disease and thereafter contracted it himself, terminated a life of service to science. Bilharz was buried in the cemetery of Roman Catholics in Old Cairo