Taenia multiceps Homepage

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Common name: Tapeworm

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Platyhelminths

Class: Cestoda

Order: Cyclophyllidea

Family: Taeniidae

Genus: Taenia

Species: multiceps

• Adult parasite
• Hosts
• Lifecycle
• Site where adult parasite is found in host
• Diagnostic stage
• Clinical signs
• Treatment

Adult Parasite:

The adult worms measure up to 500 cm.



Taenia sp. proglottid

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Hosts:

• Dogs, foxes, and other canids (definitive).
• Sheep and other ungulates (intermediate).

Life Cycle:

The sheep ingests an egg. The egg hatches in the small intestine and the larval tapeworm burrows through the intestinal wall and travel to the brain and spinal cord via the blood. The coenurus develops in the brain, reaching the infective stage in about 6 to 8 months. (In goats the coenurus can develop in a variety of tissues.) When the dog eats the sheep and ingests the coenurus, the protoscolices attach to the small intestinal wall and the worms begin to form proglottids. Gravid proglottids, containing the eggs, detach from the end of the worm and pass out in the feces.

Site in host where adult parasite is found:

Diagnostic Stage:

• Proglottid or eggs.
• Eggs are 38 - 32 um.

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Common Diagnostic Test

• Gross examination of the proglottid
• Fecal float may bring up eggs if a gravid proglottid has been broken in the feces.
• The coenurus may be found upon necropsy in the brain of sheep and goats.

   

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Clinical Signs:

• Usually asymptomatic.
• Extremely heavy worm burdens in small dogs may cause blockage of the intestine.
• In infected sheep or goats, the coenurus in the brain may cause ataxia, blindness, a stumbling gait, and paralysis.

   

   

 

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Treatment:

 Epsiprantel,  Praziquantel, Fenbendazole

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© University of Pennsylvania  2004

Comments or Questions please contact:  Dr. Nolan at: