Taenia

Platyhelminthes are divided into two classes: Cestoda (tapeworms) and Trematoda (flukes). There are four medically important cestodes: Taenia solium, Taenia saginata, Diphyllobothrium latum, and Echinococcus granulosus.
Taenia
There are two important human pathogens in the genus Taenia: T. solium (the pork tapeworm) and T. saginata (the beef tapeworm). Man gets accidentally infected by eating pork meat or beef meat which is under cooked. Man can get the larval infection called cysticercosis by the ingestion of the eggs of T.solium tape worm
T. solium

- It is 3-4m long and is smaller than T.saginata. The scolex has four suckers and circle of hooks . Inside the gravid segments the number of uterine lateral branches are usually 5-10.
- The egg are measure 30-40 ?m and are round in shape. The outer shell forms a thick brownish which encloses an oncosphere with three pairs of hooklets. The ova are highly resistant and remain infective in a moist environment for weeks or months.
- Larval stage: It is called A cysticercus consists of a pea-sized fluid-filled bladder with an invaginated scolex.
- The adult form of T. solium causes taeniasis. T. solium larvae cause cysticercosis.