Taenia solium, also called the pork
tapeworm, is a
cyclophyllid cestode in the family
Taeniidae. It infects
pigs and humans in
Asia,
Africa, the
Philippines,
South America, parts of
Southern Europe, and pockets of
North America. In
Muslim countries, it is found only very rarely, due to religious dietary restrictions. Like all cyclophyllid cestodes, T. solium has four suckers on its
scolex ("head"). T. solium also has two rows of hooks. T. solium has a very similar
life cycle to
Taenia saginata,. Though humans usually serve as a definitive host, eating infected meat, fostering adult tapeworms in the intestine, and passing eggs through
feces, sometimes a cysticercus (a
larva sometimes called a "
bladder worm") develops in the human and the human acts like an
intermediate host. This happens if eggs get to the
stomach, usually as a result of contaminated hands, but also of
vomiting. Cysticerci often occur in the central nervous system, which can cause major neurological problems like
epilepsy and even death. The condition of having cycsticerci in one's body is called
Cysticercosis, and is discussed in its own article.
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The pork tapeworm. Contracted from undercooked or measly pork (pork infected with the larval forms of the tapeworm). Can grow to be 3-6 feet (0.9-1.8 m) long in the human intestine. Also known as the armed tapeworm and the measly tapeworm.
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