Brazilian Hookworm (Necator americanus)

Hookworms, parasitic representatives of the phylum Nematoda (roundworms) were first isolated in 1865 by Brazil's pioneering physician and hematologist, Dr. Otto H. Wucherer. He was also the first to describe the embryonic filaria, a parasite that leads to hematuria and elephantiasis, which he published in the European science journals. In Brazil, two species of hookworm that infest people, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus, were the subject of a 1920s eradication program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.