Taenia solium
is a tapeworm that is flat (phylum Platyhelminthes ) and has no digestive tract of its own (class Cestoda). Its common name is the "pork tapeworm" because humans contract an infection by consuming raw or undercooked pork. Humans can also inadvertently become the host of the larval form of T. solium and develop human cysticercosis if they ingest ova from another infected person. T. solium is multicellular, possessing a scolex (head) attached to body segments (proglottids ). The adult worm produces ova which are one-celled and are shed in the feces. Slide 1 shows the actual scolex, which possesses four suckers and a double crown of prominent hooks, while slide 2 shows a model of it. Slide 3 shows proglottids in which the uterine branches have been injected with dye. Taenia solium has 8 to 13 lateral branches on each side of the uterus. Slides 4 through 10 show Taenia solium ova, which are indistinguishable from that of Taenia saginata or Echinococcus granulosus.
Click on each image to see the enlarged version.
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| 1.scolex 43 X | 2. model of scolex | 3. proglottid 70 X | 4. ova 400 X | 5. ova 400 X |
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| 6. ova 400 X | 7.ova 400 X | 8. ova 1000 X | 9. ova 1000 X | 10. ova 1000 X |
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