Taenia asiatica, commonly known as Asian taenia or Asian tapeworm, is a parasitic tapeworm of humans and pigs. It is one of the three species of Taenia infecting humans and causes taeniasis. Discovered only in 1980s from Taiwan and other East Asian countries as an unusual species, it is so notoriously similar to Taenia saginata, the beef tapeworm, that it was for a time regarded as a slightly different strain. But anomaly arose as the tapeworm is not of cattle origin, but of pigs. Morphological details also showed significant variations, such as presence of rostellar hooks, shorter body, and fewer body segments. The scientific name designated was then Asian T. saginata. But the taxonomic consensus turns out to be that it is a unique species. It was in 1993 that two Korean parasitologists, Keeseon S. Eom and Han Jong Rim, provided the biological bases for classifying it into a separate species.[1] The use of mitochondrial genome sequence and molecular phylogeny in the late 2000s established the taxonomic status.
T. asiatica causes intestinal taenisis in humans and cysticercosis in pigs. There is a suspicion that it may also cause cysticercosis in human.[2] Like other taenids, humans are the definitive hosts, but in contrast, pigs, wild boars, as well as cattle can serve as intermediate hosts. Moreover, SCID mice and Mongolian gerbil can be experimentally infected.[3] The life cycle is basically similar to those of other taenids. Humans contract the infection by eating raw or undercooked meat – a practice common in East and Southeast Asia – which is contaminated with the infective larva called cysticercus. Cysticercus develops into adult tapeworm in human intestine, from where it releases embryonated eggs along faeces into the external environment. Pigs acquire the eggs from vegetation. The eggs enter the digestive tract, which they penetrate to migrate to other body organs. Unlike other Taenia they preferentially settle in the liver, where they form cysticerci.
Asian taeniasis is documented in nine countries in Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, south-central China, Vietnam, Japan and Nepal.[4] The rate of a prevalence is estimated to be up to 21% and resulting in annual economic losses of about US$40,000,000 in these regions.[5] Praziquantel is the drug of choice for treating the infection. As the latest addition to human taeniasis, misidentified for over two centuries, still complete lack of systematic diagnosis, and no control programmes, it is regarded as the most neglected human taenid.[6]
^Eom, Keeseon S; Rim, Han-Jong (1993). "Morphologic descriptions of Taenia asiatica sp. n" (PDF). The Korean Journal of Parasitology. 31 (1): 1–6. doi:10.3347/kjp.1993.31.1.1. PMID 8512894. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22.
^Parija, SubhashChandra; Ponnambath, DinoopKorol (2013). "Laboratory diagnosis of Taenia asiatica in humans and animals". Tropical Parasitology. 3 (2): 120–4. doi:10.4103/2229-5070.122127. PMC 3889088. PMID 24470995.
^Ooi, Hong Kean; Ho, Chau-Mei; Chung, Wen-Cheng (2013). "Historical overview of Taenia asiatica in Taiwan". The Korean Journal of Parasitology. 51 (1): 31–6. doi:10.3347/kjp.2013.51.1.31. PMC 3587746. PMID 23467308.
^Fan, P.C. (1997). "Annual economic loss caused by Taenia saginata asiatica taeniasis in East Asia". Parasitology Today. 13 (5): 194–196. doi:10.1016/S0169-4758(97)01041-7. PMID 15275091.
^Galán-Puchades, M. Teresa; Fuentes, Mario V. (2013). "Taenia asiatica : the most neglected human Taenia and the possibility of cysticercosis". The Korean Journal of Parasitology. 51 (1): 51–4. doi:10.3347/kjp.2013.51.1.51. PMC 3587749. PMID 23467406.
Taeniaasiatica, commonly known as Asian taenia or Asian tapeworm, is a parasitic tapeworm of humans and pigs. It is one of the three species of Taenia...
has a strong resemblance to the other human tapeworms, such as Taeniaasiatica and Taenia solium, in structure and biology, except for few details. It is...
Types of Taenia that cause infections in humans include Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm), and Taeniaasiatica (Asian tapeworm)...
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known as Rodentolepis nana, Vampirolepis nana, Hymenolepis fraterna, and Taenia nana) is a cosmopolitan species though most common in temperate zones, and...
Taenia hydatigena (thin-necked bladderworm, causative agent of cysticercosis) is one of the adult forms of the canine and feline tapeworm. This infection...
sometimes painful. The cause of human cysticercosis is the egg form of Taenia solium (often abbreviated as T. solium and also called pork tapeworm), which...
several species of tapeworms if they eat undercooked meat such as pork (Taenia solium), beef (T. saginata), and fish (Diphyllobothrium), or if they live...
in the digestive tract or related ducts. Examples are the pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) with a human definitive host, and pigs as the secondary host, and...
people were infected with the beef tapeworm Taenia saginata and 3 million with the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. Infection of the digestive system by...
helminth is generally daily, and can occur up to six times per day for some Taenia species. Adult trematodes lay smaller numbers of eggs compared to cestodes...
parasite Taeniidae, which consists of livestock parasites in the genus Taenia and parasites that encyst in humans of the genus Echinococcus Anoplocephalidae...
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