ABSTRACT
The genus Spirometra consists of several diphyllobothroid cestode species whose adult worms inhabit the small intestine of canines and felines and whose larvae (procercoid and plerocercoid or sparganum) parasitize copepods (freshwater crustaceans), frogs, snakes, chicken, and rodents. Humans acquire the infection (sparganosis) through ingestion of copepods containing procercoids in drinking water, or consumption of raw or partially cooked ›esh of ‘sh, frogs, snakes, and chickens containing plerocercoids, as well as exposure of open wounds or sore eyes to poultices made of infected ›esh of frogs or snakes (or to water containing procerciod-infested cyclops). Once inside, the plerocercoid larvae migrate to various sites of human body, including subcutaneous tissues, lymph ganglia, the conjunctiva, the viscera, and the cerebrum, forming movable painful nodules, and obstructing the normal functions of vital organs.
