Which statement is true about Taenia saginata infection?

Which statement is true about Taenia saginata infection?

• A. Humans are infected by eating beef containing cysticerci
• B. Humans are infected by ingesting eggs
• C. Humans infected by eating pork containing cysticerci
• D. Humans infected by ingesting embryonated eggs

Answer: (A)

Taenia saginata is the beef tapeworm, and humans become infected when they eat undercooked beef that contains cysticerci, the larval cysts in the meat. In cattle, eggs shed in human feces hatch and the larvae migrate to muscle to form cysticerci. When a person ingests these cysticerci, they attach in the small intestine and mature into an adult tapeworm, causing taeniasis. The infectious stage for humans in this parasite is the cysticercus in beef, not eggs. Ingesting eggs would not complete the life cycle for Taenia saginata in humans (and pork cysticerci pertain to Taenia solium, not saginata), so the beef-containing cysticerci route is the correct transmission.

Taenia saginata is the beef tapeworm, and humans become infected when they eat undercooked beef that contains cysticerci, the larval cysts in the meat. In cattle, eggs shed in human feces hatch and the larvae migrate to muscle to form cysticerci. When a person ingests these cysticerci, they attach in the small intestine and mature into an adult tapeworm, causing taeniasis. The infectious stage for humans in this parasite is the cysticercus in beef, not eggs. Ingesting eggs would not complete the life cycle for Taenia saginata in humans (and pork cysticerci pertain to Taenia solium, not saginata), so the beef-containing cysticerci route is the correct transmission.