Diphyllobothriasis (Dibothriocephalus latum)

David Riedel, M.D.
Diphyllobothriasis (Dibothriocephalus latum) is a topic covered in the Johns Hopkins ABX Guide.

To view the entire topic, please or .

Official website of the Johns Hopkins Antibiotic (ABX), HIV, Diabetes, and Psychiatry Guides, powered by Unbound Medicine. Johns Hopkins Guide App for iOS, iPhone, iPad, and Android included. Explore these free sample topics:

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

MICROBIOLOGY

  • Cestode (tapeworm) parasite, found worldwide but concentrated in certain endemic areas.
  • Recent genus name change from Diphyllobothrium to Dibothriocephalus.
  • The most important fish-borne zoonosis with a complex 3-host life cycle:
    • Eggs ingested by crustacean and form first larval stage → crustacean ingested by a freshwater fish where plerocercoid (second larval stage) develops → humans contract infection by eating raw or undercooked freshwater fish, and the parasite matures rapidly in the intestine [Figure 1].
    • Major species are D. latum (U.S. Great Lakes region and Alaska, Scandinavia, Russia), D. nihonkaiense (Japan), D. pacificum (Pacific coast of South America), D. dendriticum (Europe).
      • Cases also reported after eating imported fish.
      • At least 10 other species reported occasionally in humans.

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or --

MICROBIOLOGY

  • Cestode (tapeworm) parasite, found worldwide but concentrated in certain endemic areas.
  • Recent genus name change from Diphyllobothrium to Dibothriocephalus.
  • The most important fish-borne zoonosis with a complex 3-host life cycle:
    • Eggs ingested by crustacean and form first larval stage → crustacean ingested by a freshwater fish where plerocercoid (second larval stage) develops → humans contract infection by eating raw or undercooked freshwater fish, and the parasite matures rapidly in the intestine [Figure 1].
    • Major species are D. latum (U.S. Great Lakes region and Alaska, Scandinavia, Russia), D. nihonkaiense (Japan), D. pacificum (Pacific coast of South America), D. dendriticum (Europe).
      • Cases also reported after eating imported fish.
      • At least 10 other species reported occasionally in humans.

There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.

Last updated: October 21, 2019