Dipylidium caninum
| Cucumber tapeworm | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Class: | Cestoda |
| Order: | Cyclophyllidea |
| Family: | Dipylidiidae |
| Genus: | Dipylidium |
| Species: | D. caninum |
| Binomial name | |
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Dipylidium caninum |
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Dipylidium caninum, also called the flea tapeworm, double-pore tapeworm, or cucumber tapeworm (in reference to the shape of its cucumber-seed-like proglottids, though these also resemble grains of rice or sesame seeds), is a cyclophyllid cestode that infects organisms afflicted with fleas and canine chewing lice, including dogs, cats, and sometimes human pet-owners, especially children.
The adult worm is about 18 inches (46 cm) long. Gravid proglottids containing the worm's microscopic eggs are either passed in the definitive host's feces or may leave their host spontaneously and are then ingested by microscopic flea larvae (the intermediate hosts) in the surrounding environment. As in all members of family Dipylidiidae, proglottids of the adult worm have genital pores on both sides (hence the name double-pore tapeworm). Each side has a set of male and female reproductive organs. The uterus is paired with 16 to 20 radial branches each. The scolex has a retractable rostellum with four rows of hooks, along with the four suckers that all cyclophyllid cestodes have.
The definitive host within this lifecycle is primarily canines, and occasionally felines, and in rare cases young children. The intermediate hosts include fleas (Ctenocephalides spp.) and chewing lice. The first stage in the lifecycle is when the gravid proglottids are either passed out through fecal matter, or actively crawl out of the anus of the host. The gravid proglottids once out of the definitive host release eggs. Then, an intermediate host will ingest an egg, which develops into a cysticercoid larva. The adult flea or louse will then harbor the infective cysticercoid until a definitive host, such as a dog, becomes infected by ingesting an infected flea or louse while grooming themselves. Humans can also become infected by D. caninum by accidentally ingesting an infected flea. In the small intestine of the definitive host, the cysticercoid develops into an adult tapeworm, which reaches maturity about one month after infection. This adult tapeworm produces proglottids, and over time, the proglottids mature and become gravid and eventually detach from the tapeworm and the lifecycle starts all over again.
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Wikipedia