Short Article
Andualem Yimer and Belayneh Me
Abstract
Tapeworm and cysticercosis are parasitic meat-borne infections that are important to public health and the global economy. Tapeworm is the intestinal infection of humans, through the adult stage of cestodes of the genus Taenia. The main cestodes that are important for causing tapeworm in humans, which act as the natural end hosts of these tapeworms, are Taenia solium, Taenia saginata and Taenia asiatica. The main risk factor that supports the transmission of the disease is the unsanitary disposal of human excrement and the consumption of raw or undercooked beef or pork. Cysticercosis is a tissue infection of the intermediate hosts of band worms caused by the ingestion of Taenia eggs. Cattle serve as an intermediate host for T. saginata and cysticerci only develop in beef, while those of T. solium and T. asiatica in the visceral organs of pigs. The eggs of these ribbon worms are lost or in the proglottids excreted with the faces of the infected final host to the external environment. When ingesting infectious eggs, intermediate hosts / cattle become infected and develop larval stages of metacestodes (also called cysticerci), resulting in bovine cysticercosis. People get tapeworm after eating undercooked beef containing viable cysticerci. Taenia saginata is a parasitic infection of humans residing in the small intestine of infected humans. T. saginata is considered to be distributed worldwide, it is widespread in developing countries, especially in Africa, Latin America, the Caucasus, Asia and the countries of the eastern Mediterranean. In these countries where hygienic conditions are associated with poor cattle management practices and the lack of strict meat inspection due to the common habit of slaughter in backyard. Although the prevalence of the disease is very low in developed countries, public health and the economic importance of T.