DATEDISCOVERY5000-1500 BCTapeworms were mentioned in Indian Ayurveda and described in ancient Egyptian papyri (Ebers Papyrus).500-200 BCTheophrastus coined the term taenia; Aristotle recognized swine cysticercosis.AD 20-200Roman physicians recognized tapeworms ( Lumbricus latus).

How was tapeworms discovered?

It was not until 1853 that Carl von Siebold demonstrated that Echinococcus cysts from sheep gave rise to adult tapeworms when fed to dogs (268), and in 1863 Bernhard Naunyn found adult tapeworms in dogs fed with hydatid cysts from a human (198, 136).

How long has tapeworm been around?

New research suggests that the ancestors of modern humans caught these parasites about two million years ago, from the game they hunted on the plains of Africa — and then passed them onto pigs and cattle while domesticating them about 10,000 years ago.