What organism causes tapeworm?

Answer 1

Any raw or undercooked meat can give you tapeworms. Always cook meat thoroughly before eating it.

Tapeworms have a complicated life cycle. They are commonly found in cats and dogs, and humans are capable of getting tapeworms. Only adult tapeworms (not larvae) live in the digestive systems of dogs, cats and occasionally humans. The adult worm is made up of segments, each filled with eggs. The host (cat/dog/human) passes the eggs in its feces. A louse or a flea then ingests an egg from the contaminated fecal matter. The egg inside the flea develops into an immature tapeworm. Then, a cat or dog ingests the flea, usually by grooming itself and the immature worm then becomes the adult worm, completing the life cycle. Usually it is small children who become infected by tapeworms, by ingesting a flea or louse. Food can also be contaminatd with eggs, flea larvae or adult lice. A human could get tapeworms from coming into contact with soil, say, while gardening, that has cat/dog feces in it, contaminated with eggs.