Hookworm infection is a leading cause of iron-deficiency anemia in rural areas of the world's poorest countries [1]. An estimated 700 million people chronically harbor hookworms in their intestines—most of these people survive on less than $1–2 per day, a benchmark threshold for defining global poverty [1] and [2]. Indeed, hookworm infection is considered to be among the two most common chronic infections of the “bottom billion” and based on disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost, it is the most important neglected tropical disease (NTD) and the second most important parasitic infection (after malaria) [2] and [3].