Helminths

Common Name: Beef tapeworm

Characteristics: Has four large suckers but lacks hooks

Pathogenic: YES: Infection is a result of eating undercooked meat

Gravid Proglottid has a uterus with more that 15 lateral branches

Common Name: Pork tapeworm

Characteristics: Has four large suckers and two rows of hooks

Pathogenic: YES: Infection is a result of eating undercooked pork

More pathogenic than beef tapeworm

Gravid Proglottid has a uterus with less than 13 lateral branches

Characteristics:  Eggs are identical in beef and pork tapeworm

   Have thick, dark radially striated shell

Common Name: Pinworm

Symptoms: Itchy butt

Characteristics: Readily identified by the characteristic dorsoventral cephalic inflation of the cuticle

Pathogenic: YES

Characteristics: One side is flattened