Eating undercooked pork puts people at risk for becoming infected with a pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, the most dangerous type of tapeworm that exists for humans. This tapeworm can travel to your muscles, liver, heart, lungs, eyes and even your brain. It can live for as long as 25 years and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is capable of producing 50 million eggs. Once contaminated, a person with a pork tapeworm puts others at risk for contamination as well. According to Richard Pearson, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, pork tapeworm in humans is prevalent in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America, where pigs are more likely to have contact with infected human feces.
Physical Characteristics
Taenia solium has a head, neck and segmented body. The head is referred to as the scolex. It has hooks and suckers that it uses to attach to the wall of the intestines. The neck is usually the narrowest part, but it is the part of the tapeworm that makes what are called the proglottids. The proglottids make up the body. Each one is a segment of the body, and as they are made, those that are closest to the neck are the most immature. As a new proglottid is produced, the tapeworm gets longer. Each proglottid contains female as well as male reproductive organs, with the mature eggs in the proglottid that is furthest from the neck. Dr. Pearson states that a mature tapeworm can be as long as 21 feet, and have close to 1,000 proglottids.
How It Is Transferred
In "Foundations of Parasitology," by Larry Roberts and John Janovy, Jr., the authors explain that a pork tapeworm can be transferred by human feces contaminated with the eggs. Blowflies transport the tapeworm eggs to food that is then eaten by pigs. The eggs travel to their muscles and develop into what is called cysticerci. Anyone who then eats pork that is infected with cysticerci, and does not thoroughly cook the pork, will eat live cysticerci, which will develop into a tapeworm. In those parts of the world that have a public health problem, it is common for the tapeworm to be transferred this way.
Symptoms
According to Drs. Levinson and Jawetz in "Medical Microbiology & Immunology," most people with a pork tapeworm do not have any symptoms, although some do have diarrhea and a poor appetite. It is common, however, for Taenia to travel to the eyes and the brain. If it travels to your eyes, it can cause damage to your retina that will be beyond repair. And if it goes to your brain, it can cause seizures, meningitis and paralysis.
Diagnosis
Taenia is diagnosed by examining samples of your stool (bowel movements), looking for either eggs or proglottids. If you are having neurological problems, however, either an MRI or a CT scan will be done to look for cysts or lesions in your brain.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Taeniasis
- "Foundations of Parasitology"; Larry Roberts, and John Janovy, Jr.; 1996
- "Medical Microbiology & Immunology"; Warren Levinson, M.D., PhD, Ernest Jawetz, M.D., PhD; 2000
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