When you consider that a dog may have thousands of tapeworms in its gut, the number of eggs shed is enormous.
The eggs may be eaten by sheep and other animals as they eat grass which has been contaminated by dogs’ droppings. It can spread to man by handling dogs or by dogs’ droppings contaminating areas where man can come in contact with the eggs and transfer them to his mouth.
Children are often affected because they are more likely to fondle dogs and be unaware of proper hygiene.
When eggs are eaten, they pass to the intestine where they hatch. The embryos burrow through the wall of the intestine and enter the small blood vessels.
From here they go to the liver where they may settle and develop into a cyst. Some move through the liver and pass along to the lung and can set up cysts there. Others can escape through the lung and pass to the heart, then be transported to other areas of the body, such as the brain.
The cysts which form may grow slowly and not cause symptoms for many years. The liver is affected in about 70 per cent of cases, the lungs in about 30 to 40 per cent, and some cases have cysts in two or more areas.
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