Can tapeworms be passed from dog to human? Let’s Explore

How to Tell if Your Dog Has Tapeworms

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the proglottid segments can sometimes be seen crawling near the anus or on the surface of fresh waste. These eggs are released into the environment when the proglottid dries out. The dried proglottids can sometimes be seen stuck to your dog’s fur.

Another telltale sign of worm infestation is if your dog scoots his anus across the ground, on a rug, or another rough surface. This is due to the irritation the segments are causing his skin. You may see your dog licking or biting at the area. Occasionally, a portion of the tapeworm will be released when your dog vomits.

Tapeworms are not usually harmful, and dogs rarely become ill as a result of an infestation, but weight loss may occur if he is heavily infected.

Clubs Offering:

Tapeworms are an intestinal parasite. Along with roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm, this flat, segmented worm is found in dogs, cats, humans, and many other species around the world. The most common tapeworm species is Dipylidium Caninum. The medical term for a tapeworm infestation is Cestodiasis.

If you’ve ever seen photos of tapeworms, your reaction was probably one of automatic revulsion. (Especially those alarming videos of tapeworms being removed from people. A woman in China had an eight-foot tapeworm taken out of her stomach!) Even though they’re disgusting to look at, it’s important to recognize the signs of parasites, so your dog can be treated before the worms do damage to his body. The good news is that treatment for tapeworms is very effective and simple.

A medical model of an adult tapeworm / Copyright decade3rd-anatomy online

There is a cycle through which dogs get tapeworms:

First, the dog will ingest a host that is harboring tapeworm eggs, most often an adult flea. There are a few ways a dog might ingest a flea, such as self-grooming, or grooming a canine or feline housemate. Other animals that are potential transmitters of eggs include birds, rabbits, or rodents, which even a well-fed dog might scavenge for.

Once digested, the tapeworm eggs settle into your dog’s small intestine. There it will develop into an adult.

The adult tapeworm is made up of lots of small segments, each about the size of a grain of rice, called proglottids. Adult tapeworms usually measure anywhere from four to 28 inches in length.

As the tapeworm matures inside the dog’s gut, these segments break off and end up in the dog’s stool. Since these segments contain tapeworm eggs, the cycle will begin again, with a new host and most likely a new recipient.

Pet owners should be aware that monthly heartworm or tick medications do not usually include an anti-tapeworm drug. Even drugs advertised for “tapeworms” may not be effective against Echinococcus, as they are most likely labelled for more common tapeworms such as Taenia or Dipylidium, which are much less serious for public health.

U of S researcher offers advice on how to reduce risks for humans and pets to get a potentially deadly tapeworm.

Dogs become infected with the liver form of the parasite, which can be deadly, when they consume the parasite’s eggs in coyote, fox and wolf scat. Dogs get the intestinal form (harmless to the dog, but dangerous to us) when they consume infected rodents.

This discovery led us to completely re-examine what we thought we knew about this parasite: It wasn’t supposed to cause disease in dogs, it wasn’t supposed to be in B.C. and it wasn’t supposed to be established in forested regions in North America.

The dog, however, had spent all of its life in B.C. That, coupled with the genetic clue, told us that the parasite had likely hitched a ride from Europe to Canada in an infected dog, as there are no rules for screening or deworming imported dogs.

Can Humans Get PARASITES From DOGS? – Zoonotic Diseases

Tapeworms are an intestinal parasite. Along with roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm, this flat, segmented worm is found in dogs, cats, humans, and many other species around the world. The most common tapeworm species is Dipylidium Caninum. The medical term for a tapeworm infestation is Cestodiasis.

If you’ve ever seen photos of tapeworms, your reaction was probably one of automatic revulsion. (Especially those alarming videos of tapeworms being removed from people. A woman in China had an eight-foot tapeworm taken out of her stomach!) Even though they’re disgusting to look at, it’s important to recognize the signs of parasites, so your dog can be treated before the worms do damage to his body. The good news is that treatment for tapeworms is very effective and simple.