Filariasis appears to have been present among civilizations as early as 2000 BCE, where artifacts and reliefs on Egyptian tombs depicted cases of elephantiasis. In addition, early Greeks referenced symptoms of filariasis in their writings.
Some Discoveries of note2:
- 1863: Demarquay detected microfilariae in a human scrotal swelling.
- 1866: Wucherer detected microfilariae in human urine.
- 1872: Lewis detected microfilariae in human blood.
- 1877: Bancroft detected an adult filarial worm in a human arm ulcer; Manson discovered microfilariae in the mosquito.
- 1879: Manson discovered periodicity - the pattern where microfilariae may appear in the bloodstream at certain hours of the night/day.
2. Otsuji Y. History, epidemiology and control of filariasis. Trop Med Health. 2011;39(1 Suppl 2):3-13. doi:10.2149/tmh.39-1-suppl_2-3
