Question

1. In Egypt, the Christian minority makes a living gathering up the city garbage and feeding it to their hogs, who inhabit the lower court yards of their homes. They also eat the pork as part of their diet. Explain how this custom can result in humans becoming the accidental intermediate hosts for the tapeworm, Taenia solium.

a. The Boy Scout troop made their annual trek to lake Wobegone where they camped for 4 nights and practiced canoeing and other water sports. A week later, almost the entire troop came down with severe cramping and frothy mucus diarrhea that smelled like rotten eggs. Only the members of the troop that stayed home from the campout were not affected. What was it?

Answer 1

1. Taenia solium is a tapeworm which has resides in intestine of pigs. Undercooked or raw pork can lead to transmission of this tapeworm into humans. Its adult stages in life cycle occur in human intestine.

Taenia solium cause taeniasis in humans. Eggs or gravid proglottids can be present in the feces in contaminated water. Pigs get infected when these eggs and proglottid contaminated vegetation is ingested by them. The oncospheres will hatch when they invade the wall of intestine of pigs. The hatched oncospheres then migrate to striated muscle, where they form cysticerci. Humans that ingested undercooked or raw pork will imbibe the cysticerci, which then reach the intestine. They develop into adult tapeworms, that attach via scolex to intestine and can survive for years in the human intestine. The adult tapeworms produce eggs or proglottids, which become gravid and are passed in stool. Feces contaminated water is a source of infection too. The unhygienic practices and undercooked pork are reasons for humans acting as accidental hosts in the christian minorities of Egypt. Garbage may be contaminated with T. solium containing feces and such handing can lead to transmission of the tapeworm to humans.

a. The disease is Giardiasis which is caused by the parasite Giardia. Giardia causes intestinal infection leading to diarrhea that has mucus. The diarrhea also smells of rotten eggs due to hydrogen sulphide production. There is also severe abdominal pain, and fatigue. Infection occurs when feces contaminated water is ingested. The cysts present in water are activated to Trophozoites in the stomach by gastric acid. Attachment to the intestinal wall results in reproduction. Cysts formed will pass into stool and then into contaminated water bodies. The Boy Scout team that went to lake Wobegone, possibly ingested cysts of Giardia from the contaminated water during the water sports.