Raju Bhandari1,2 , Rajan Chamlagain3, Edward Sutanto4 , Hammad Adam1,2, Anil Dhungana2, Aishnath Azna Ali2, Bimochan Piya2, Abdulla Ubaid2 and Andreas Neumayr5,6,7
Introduction Taeniasis is an intestinal infection caused by adult tapeworms. Three parasite species cause taeniasis in humans: Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm), and Taenia asiatica (a species phylogenetically closely related to T. saginata). 1 The human definitive host gets infected with T. saginata and T. solium by eating undercooked meat of the parasites’ respective intermediate host (T. saginata: cattle; T. solium: pigs) harboring the infective larval stage of the parasite (cysticerci).2,3 The life cycle of T. asiatica differs from that of T. saginata in its intermediate host (pigs vs cattle) as well as in the infected organs (liver vs muscle).1