This image shows the tapeworm T. solium, a parasite found in the bowels of humans who eat under-cooked pork.
You can see the proglottid segments of the worm’s neck/body and its terrifying scolex (head) complete with a hooked rostellum which it uses to attach itself onto your intestinal wall so that you don’t poop it out easily.
Fully grown worms can expand to around 2-3 meters in length and are composed of numerous segments each of which form their own reproductive unit.
The life cycle of the parasite begins when pigs ingest the T. solium eggs (from fecal contamination). The eggs develop into larvae inside the pig & then migrate through the intestinal wall to form cysts in their muscles & tissues.
Once slaughtered for meat, the larvae can be ingested by humans if the pork is eaten raw or under-cooked. Once in the human small intestine the larvae grow into large adult worms where they persist often unnoticed due to the lack of symptoms associated with their existence. The worms lay eggs into the intestines which are released during defecation thus continuing the life cycle.
“Life finds a way” - Dr. Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park
A major complication of infection with T. solium is Cysticercosis. This is a parasitic tissue infection caused by the larval cysts of the tapeworm. These larval cysts infect brain, muscle, or other tissue, and are a cause of adult onset seizures. A person only gets cysticercosis by swallowing the eggs found in the feces of a person who has an intestinal tapeworm NOT from contracting a tapeworm by eating under-cooked pork itself. So people living in the same household with someone who has a tapeworm have a much higher risk of getting cysticercosis than people who don’t because they can be exposed to the eggs released in the stool.
The pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) doesn’t really have any jaws, or a mouth. Cool. It only latches onto your guts with the grappling hooks on its face. No biggie. And it can grow to several metres in length.
Humans can become infected by the tapeworm after eating undercooked pork. Most have no symptoms. Yay! Some get seizures, blindness, and a mild case of death. Boo!
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