Larval Tapeworm Infections in Primates: Coenurosis, Cysticercosis, and Echinococcosis

Abstract

As globally distributed parasites of humans, livestock, and wildlife, taeniid parasites exploit predator–prey relationships across mammalian systems. Infections with the larval taeniid stage cause symptoms ranging from the neurological (e.g., paralysis, seizures) to the ocular (e.g., blindness) and muscular (e.g., atrophy), result in massive economic losses in livestock, and threaten wildlife populations. While taeniids were once considered to be relatively host-specific in their larval stage, reports of taeniid emergence in nontraditional hosts are increasing in frequency. In this chapter, I take a One-Health approach to examining cases of larval taeniid infections in primates, focusing on the infection of wild geladas (Theropithecus gelada) with the larval stage of Taenia serialis. By understanding how taeniid species emerge in nontraditional hosts, we can build useful frameworks for predicting and disrupting transmission and thereby protecting captive and wild NHP, domestic animals, and humans in a world with a broadening human–wildlife interface.