There has been considerable speculation and perhaps unwarranted alarm concerning the probability of the importation of various parasites from the tropics into the United States during the postwar period, both by returning military personnel and by relocated civilian population groups. It would seem desirable, therefore, to survey representative groups of these individuals at convenient times and locations prior to their return to normal activities throughout the country in the postwar period. Early in December 1943 the Gripsholm brought more than 1,000 Americans back to this country from the Far East. Among the passengers were several hundred missionaries with many years' residence in China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. A considerable number of the passengers had been in Japanese occupied territory and in concentration camps for variable periods of time. Sanitary conditions were not always ideal, and opportunities for acquiring intestinal parasites were good. It occurred to me that it might