Discovery of Eurytrema Eggs in Sediment from a Colonial Period Latrine in Taiwan

Abstract

In this study we take a closer look at the diseases that afflicted Japanese police officers who were stationed in a remote mountainous region of Taiwan from 1921 to 1944. Samples were taken from the latrine at the Huabanuo police outpost, and analyzed for the eggs of intestinal parasites, using microscopy and ELISA. The eggs of <i>Eurytrema</i> sp., (possibly <i>E</i>. <i>pancreaticum</i>), whipworm and roundworm were shown to be present. True infection with <i>Eurytrema</i> would indicate that the policemen ate uncooked grasshoppers and crickets infected with the parasite. However, false parasitism might also occur if the policemen ate the uncooked intestines of infected cattle, and the <i>Eurytrema</i> eggs passed through the human intestines. These findings provide an insight into the diet and health of the Japanese colonists in Taiwan nearly a century ago.