Table: Cestodes of Public Health Importance

Cestodes of Public Health Importance

Cestode^a	Host of Adult Worm	Name of Metacestode (Intermediate) Stage	Measurements of Metacestode	Principal Intermediate Hosts	Site of Metacestode
Taenia saginata	Humans only	Cysticercus “beef measles”	9 × 5 mm	Cattle	Skeletal and cardiac muscle
Taenia solium	Humans only	Cysticercus “pork measles”	6–10 × 5–10 mm	Pigs, rarely dogs (humans may be both definitive and aberrant intermediate hosts)	Skeletal and cardiac muscle, occasionally nervous system
Diphyllobothrium spp	Humans, dogs, cats, and other fish-eating mammals	Procercoid in copepod, plerocercoid in fish	2–25 × 2.5 mm for plerocercoid	Copepod, then fish	Mesenteric tissues, testes, ovary, muscles of fish
Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato	Dogs, wolves, foxes, and several other wild carnivores	Hydatid cyst	Diameter 50–100 mm, sometimes ≥150 mm	Sheep, cattle, pigs, horses, moose, deer, occasionally humans	Commonly in liver and lungs, occasionally in other organs and tissues
Echinococcus multilocularis	Canids and domestic cats	Alveolar hydatid cyst	Variable	Field mice, voles, lemmings, sometimes domestic mammals and humans	Usually liver, various other organs and tissues
^a Human infections with the metacestodes of Taenia crassiceps, Taenia multiceps, Mesocestoides spp, and other cestodes not listed here occur rarely. Children occasionally become infected with adult Dipylidium caninum, which appears to have no medical significance but important aesthetic aspects.