Pork Tapeworm

22.6 Pork Tapeworm Pork tapeworm was covered in Chapter 27. This disease is called cysticercosis. See page 339.

Review: The adult of this tapeworm lives in the intestine of humans (host animal) and may cause diarrhea and abdominal discomfort. Whole sections of the tapeworm break off and pass out in the feces. Each of these tapeworm sections can contain many tapeworm eggs. If a pig (intermediate host) eats human feces infected with tapeworm eggs, the eggs hatch in the stomach and intestine of the pig to become larvae. These larvae travel to various muscles in the pig’s body and form small “blisters” or “cysts” which can remain for many years. Later, when the pig is killed for meat, these cysts are eaten by humans. If the meat is cooked well, the cysts are killed and nothing happens. However, if the meat is only partially cooked or eaten raw, then these cysts break open and mature tapeworms develop inside the digestive system of the human. Then the cycle starts all over again.

Pig eats human feces with Pig meat with cysts. Humans eat pig meat with tape worm segments. cysts and become infected.

Treatment  Treat infected humans with worm medicines effective against tapeworms.

Control / Prevention

 Do not allow pigs to eat human fecal material. Ensure that people use latrines and pigs do not run loose (to eat human feces).

Don’t let pigs run loose Use latrines  Thoroughly cook pig meat before eating. Heating the meat to about 50 degrees C. will kill the cysts in the meat. Before cooking the meat, cut the meat into small pieces to ensure thorough cooking.