The history of tropical medicine in Brazil: the discovery of Trypanosoma cruzi by Carlos Chagas and the German School of Protozoology.

The discovery of trypanosomes in a Brazilian monkey by the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas in 1908, led to the finding of a new microorganism pathogenic to man, Trypanosoma cruzi, and a new human trypanosomiasis. The present work discusses the context in which the discovery happened, and stresses the influence of German protozoologists in the work of the Brazilian scientist.