[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Microbiology](https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/) › [Cestodes (tapeworms)](https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/groups/cestodes/) › Spirometra (sparganosis)

# Spirometra (sparganosis)

- Parasite
- For completeness

A tapeworm of dogs and cats. Its ribbon-like larva can wander under a person's skin, into the eye or the brain after raw frog or snake meat or dirty water.

Updated Nov 13, 2026

Also called: Spirometra mansoni, Spirometra erinaceieuropaei, Spirometra mansonoides, sparganum, Sparganum proliferum

## Quick facts

**Type**
Parasite · [Cestodes (tapeworms)](https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/groups/cestodes/)

**Gram / shape**
Whitish

**Spread**
Eating raw or undercooked frog · Applying raw frog

**Causes**
Subcutaneous sparganosis · Ocular sparganosis

**Treatment**
Complete surgical removal

On this page

- The basics Key points
- At a glance
- Morphology
- Transmission
- Life cycle
- In Colombia
- Memory aid
- What the colours mean

- Clinical Virulence factors
- Diseases it causes
- Clinical picture
- Diagnosis

- Treatment Treatment
- Prevention

- Study Test yourself

- Connections Connections

## Key points

- Sparganum = Spirometra plerocercoid; humans are second intermediate or paratenic hosts.
- Sources: copepods in water, raw frog or snake, poultices.
- Migratory subcutaneous nodule; brain lesions that move on MRI.
- Treatment is surgical removal.

## At a glance

**Shape**
Whitish, wrinkled, ribbon-like larva without suckers or hooks

**Family**
Diphyllobothriidae

**Type**
Pseudophyllidean cestode; humans host the second-stage larva (plerocercoid, sparganum)

**Size**
Sparganum a few millimetres wide and several centimetres long

## Morphology

- The sparganum is flat, white and unsegmented, with a slightly thickened front end.
- It can live for many years in human tissue.
- S. proliferum branches and multiplies, producing many larvae.

## Transmission

- Drinking untreated water containing infected copepods (water fleas).
- Eating raw or undercooked frog, snake or other second intermediate or paratenic host flesh.
- Applying raw frog or snake flesh as a poultice to wounds or eyes (a folk practice in parts of Asia).

**Reservoir:** Dogs, cats and wild carnivores (definitive hosts); Copepods (first intermediate host); Frogs, snakes, fish and other vertebrates (second intermediate or paratenic hosts)

### Isolation precautions

What the care team adds to standard precautions.

- Standard

## Life cycle

- The adult lives in the intestine of a dog or cat; eggs leave in the faeces and reach water.
- A coracidium hatches and is eaten by a copepod, where it becomes a procercoid.
- A frog, snake or fish eats the copepod; the larva becomes a plerocercoid (sparganum) in its tissues.
- A dog or cat eats the infected animal and the adult develops in its gut.
- A person swallowing copepods or raw infected flesh carries the sparganum, which migrates but never matures.

## Virulence factors

- The larva migrates through tissues, leaving tracts and inflammatory granulomas with eosinophils.
- In the brain or spinal cord it causes mass lesions that change position over time.
- Proliferative forms invade many tissues and can be fatal.

## Diseases it causes

- Subcutaneous sparganosis: slow, sometimes migratory, painless swelling of the skin or muscle
- Ocular sparganosis: periorbital swelling, eyelid oedema, sometimes proptosis
- Cerebral or spinal sparganosis: seizures, headache, weakness and sensory changes

## Clinical picture

- A subcutaneous lump that moves over weeks to months, often on the trunk, limbs or breast.
- Eye involvement causes swelling, pain and tearing.
- Brain involvement: seizures, hemiparesis, headache; inner ear involvement causes vertigo or deafness.
- Eosinophilia may be present but is often absent.

## Diagnosis

- Recovery of the sparganum from tissue at surgery is diagnostic.
- MRI of the brain: clusters of ring-enhancing lesions, a tunnel-like track, lesions that move between scans.
- Serology (ELISA for Spirometra IgG in serum or CSF) where available.
- PCR on the larva identifies the species.

## Treatment

Complete surgical removal of the live larva is the standard; the cestocide praziquantel has been used, especially in cerebral disease, but its benefit is uncertain.

Drug class only; doses and regimens are set by the clinician from the current guideline.

In Pharmacology:

- [Praziquantel](https://durgical.com/en/pharmacology/praziquantel/)

## Prevention

- Drink boiled or filtered water in rural areas.
- Do not eat raw or undercooked frog, snake or wild animal meat.
- Avoid applying raw animal flesh to wounds or eyes.

## In Colombia

Most human cases are reported from East and Southeast Asia. Spirometra occurs in animals in the Americas, but human sparganosis in South America is uncommon and mostly reported as isolated cases.

## Memory aid

The sparganum is a spaghetti strand that travels: from a frog to a poultice, from the poultice under the skin.

## Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

## Which larval stage of Spirometra causes sparganosis in humans?

The plerocercoid, called a sparganum.

## What are three ways people acquire sparganosis?

Drinking water with infected copepods, eating raw frog or snake meat, and applying raw flesh as a poultice.

## What MRI feature suggests cerebral sparganosis?

Clusters of ring-enhancing lesions with a tunnel-like track that change position between scans.

## What is the standard treatment of sparganosis?

Complete surgical removal of the live larva.

[Add to my cards (4)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/microbiology/spirometra/)

## What the colours mean

**Gram-positive**
Thick peptidoglycan wall: stains purple.

**Gram-negative**
Thin wall with an outer membrane: stains pink.

**Acid-fast**
Lipid-rich wall (mycobacteria): Ziehl–Neelsen stain.

## Connections

## Related 3

- [Dibothriocephalus latus](https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/dibothriocephalus-latus/)
- [Gnathostoma and Anisakis](https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/gnathostoma-and-anisakis/)
- [Taenia solium](https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/taenia-solium/)

[← Back to the group: Cestodes (tapeworms)](https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/groups/cestodes/)

Educational content on microorganisms; not a treatment guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. No doses are given.

Sources: [CDC - DPDx - Sparganosis](https://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/sparganosis/index.html) (CDC, 2017); [Efficacy comparison between long-term high-dose praziquantel and surgical therapy for cerebral sparganosis: A multicenter retrospective cohort study](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6211769/) (PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (PMC), 2018).

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Representative model, for educational purposes only.

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Source: https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/spirometra/
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/microbiology/spirometra/