An estimated 200 million people in the world suffer from schistosomiasis (bilharzia), and according to the World Health Organization it ranks second behind malaria in terms of socioeconomic and public health importance in tropical and subtropical areas. The disease was present in Egypt in the Old Kingdom (c. 2600 BCE), and in 1998 it was estimated that almost six million Egyptians -- one fifth of the rural population -- were infected. Thus it remains one of the most serious public health problems in rural Egypt. This study is the first to paint a broad picture of schistosomiasis in