In: Biology
Human cysticercosis is caused by the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. The larval stages of this worm cause the disease in human and pigs. Ingestion of eggs or gravid proglottid that are present in feces of human carriers leads to the infection in pigs and humans. Human are infected when they ingest food contaminated with feces of through autoinfection. Reverse peristalsis carries the gravid proglottids or eggs to the stomach. They hatch to oncospheres in intestine, and invade the wall of the intestine. The oncospheres migrate to striated muscles, brain, liver, and other tissues. Here they develop into cysticerci. The cysts attach to intestinal wall by scolex and then develop into adult tapeworms. The tapeworms then produce proglottids that contain eggs. Each proglottid has around 50,000 eggs.
Cysticerci are the larval stage of this tapeworm Taenia solium. They are small vesicle like sacs that resemble a bladder that is filled with fluid. Scolex is the main body of the larvae. It is normally found in pigs.