First Parasite Linked to Human Disease

 

1875 – First Identification:

• Fedor A. Lösch, a Russian physician, is credited with the first description of the parasite. He discovered it in fecal samples from a patient with dysentery in Russia.
• Lösch observed the trophozoite stage and its ability to destroy intestinal tissue — hence the name histolytica (from Greek: “histo” = tissue, “lytic” = destroy).
  
• 1903 – Species Classification:
• Fritz Schaudinn, a German zoologist, officially named and classified the organism as Entamoeba histolytica, distinguishing it from non-pathogenic amoebae.

 

 

🥇 First Parasite Linked to Human Disease:

✅ Entamoeba histolytica

• Discovered by: Fedor A. Lösch (1875, Russia)

• Disease: Amoebiasis (amoebic dysentery)

• Significance:

  • First protozoan parasite definitively shown to cause invasive human disease (ulcers, liver abscesses).

  • Lösch injected amoebae into a dog’s intestine and reproduced the disease — an early form of Koch’s postulates.

     

     
     
     
    Snapshot