Todayโs path rounds are on ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
๐
๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ are more scientifically known as ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ. These particular tapeworms are pretty wild because they can be up to ๐๐-๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ! Yes, you read that right!
๐๐ก๐จ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
These tapeworms can be found in dogs, cats, swine, ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฌ, and other fish-eating mammals. Terrifying!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
The life cycle of this tapeworm involves fish, hence the colloquial name of fish tapeworm. The tapewormโs intermediate stages develop in freshwater fish, and are transmitted to a mammal when the animal eats the raw fish. Once in the animal, the tapeworm develops into the very long adult form, and begins to lay eggs. These eggs are passed with the feces and contaminate water sources, continuing the life cycle.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ?
Despite their impressive length, these tapeworms donโt tend to cause issues in animals or humans. However, adult worms can be passed in the feces when they die, which is a pretty horrifying situation for everyone involved, Iโm sure.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฌ๐๐?
Besides the obvious passage of a super long tapeworm, infection with Diphyllobothrium can also be done by looking at a fecal sample under the microscope to identify their eggs.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐?
Thankfully, this parasite is susceptible to most of our common antiparasitics. As always though, the best thing is prevention! Animals (and people) should be prevented from eating raw, improperly handled freshwater fish. Something to think about next time youโre offered some salmon-based sushi 
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ฌ
1) The egg stage of Diphyllobothrium that can be seen in the feces!
2-3) The little nodules in the intestine that the developing adults live in!
4-6) Examples of adult Diphyllobothrium 
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ
Maxie, G. Jubb, Kennedy and Palmerโs Pathology of Domestic Animals, Volume 2. Sixth Edition.
Photo 1 ยฉ Wikimedia Commons contributor Stefan Walkowski licensed under CC 4.0 International.
Photos 2-5 ยฉ Noahโs Arkive contributors King, Jakowski, Holshuh licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo 6 ยฉ Shin H, Roh J-H, Oh J-W et al. Extracorporeal Worm Extraction of Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense with Amidotrizoic Acid in a Child. The Korean Journal of Parasitology 2014.
