In the 1970s, an investigation was conducted by Indonesian physicians concerned about the high rates of Ekari people hospitalized for burns.

The study revealed many Ekari people were suffering from neurocysticercosis, caused by the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, which had been previously unseen in Papua New Guinea.

Pigs infected with the tapeworms had been introduced to the island previously by the Indonesian unknowingly.

[3] Though based on modern genetic study, tapeworms in Papua are the oldest among Indonesian haplotypes.

They diverged from lineages in Bali at minimum 25,000 years BP, hence unlikely to be recent introduction.