Sorry, I mis-sent this first time.... >Some info from http://martin.parasitology.mcgill.ca/jimpage/biol/d_latum.htm >on tapeworms from eating raw fish.I'm unhappy to find that there is no good >treatment other than surgery, which ain't so hot,since I last studied this >organism. >Diphyllobothrium latum >This pseudophillidean tapeworm in the family Diphyllobothriidae is known as >the broad fish tapeworm and is found mainly infecting fish of Northern Europe, a closely related species D. ursi is found in the North Eastern U.S. There are > many different host species,mainly those carnivores >which eat fish, and this includes man. >These worms can reach to a length of 10 meters and can shed in the region of >one million eggs per day. They are anapolytic which means they shed their spent > proglottids. The scolex is finger-shaped with bothria on the dorsal and >ventral surfaces. The proglottids are wider than they are long with >numerous testis and vitellaria with a bilobed ovary. The gravid proglottids >have a characteristic rosette shaped uterus. >The eggs are ovoid with an operculum at one end and a knob at the other and >measure 60 x 40 m. When they are released into the intestine they > are only partially embryonated and require from 8 >days to several weeks for the infective coracidium to develop. This >free-living stage emerges through the operculum and is ingested by a copepod, > Diaptomus sp. It loses its cilia and penetrates through >the gust wall into the coelum. Here it takes up nutrients from the host and >develops into the procercoid stage with a cercomer. It measures about 0.5 mm >and is largely undifferentiated. They remain in the copepod >until they are eaten by the second intermediate host, >usually a Pike or salmon where it penetrates the gut, > loses the cercomer and makes its way to the muscles and becomes a >plerocercoid. If the second intermediate host is small and is eaten by a >larger predatory fish (Pike) then the plerocercoid migrates to the muscle >of this fish also which is a paratenic host. The plerocercoid can be up to >a few cm in length, and is usually coiled within in the muscle cell. It can >easily be seen as a white mass in uncooked fish muscle. >When the plerocercoid is eaten by the definitive host it passes through the >stomach and the scolex becomes embedded in the mucosa of the small intestine > and develops rapidly producing eggs within 10-14 days. >People generally become infected when uncooked fish are eaten and it is >particularly prevalent in those cultures which eat a lot of freshwater > fish and prepare it by methods other than cooking. In >regions with poor sanitation where untreated swage is released directly into >rivers and lakes, infected fish with high prevalence and intensity rates are common, >often reaching 100%. >Pathology >In many cases human infections go largely unnoticed, because of the >nonspecific symptoms such as intestinal discomfort, nausea, and diarrhea. > However, in some cases pernicious anaemia develops >which is related to a vitamin B12 deficiency. Normally occurring pernicious >anaemia is a result of malabsorption of B12 by the host. In patients with D. latum >infections it has been demonstrated that the parasite cleaves and selectively > takes up B12, competing with the host for the vitamin. Thus, in >heavy infections the parasite may be sequestering almost all of the >available dietary B12. It is also suggested that the worm may also interfere > with the host's ability to take up the vitamin. It would >appear that some people are more susceptible to this condition than others >and can lead to a condition known as Megablastic anaemia the symptoms >of which is pallor,glossitis, loss of tongue papillae. There are also neurological >symptoms including numbness, loss of vibration sense, >weakness and an unsteady gate. >Treatment and Control >There are a large number of possible drugs available to treat this disease, >the two main ones used are Niclosamide and praziquantel, both of which are highly effective. >Effective control measures include cooking fish properly or freezing the >fish down below -12 C for a minimum of 24 hrs. >In addition, properly treated and managed swage is also important. >Sparganosis >The disease known as sparganosis is due to the infection of abnormal hosts >with the plerocercoid stage of a tapeworm. Human infections can occur by eating > infected copepods but additionally by >eating poorly cooked amphibians, reptiles, birds and even pork. These >plerocercoids migrate through the tissue to host muscle and are frequently walled >off by host reaction into nodules. They can be very dangerous, as some species > can reach a length of 10 cm. They can survive for many >years. In some cases they can proliferate thus resulting in large numbers in >the host tissue. They are usually discovered when they are investigated >through exploratory surgery as the site of possible >cancerous growths. Treatment is generally through surgery, as drugs are >rarely effective. >Pat