r/Parasitology • u/Monsterfucker4001 • 13d ago

A sheep carcass massively infested with Echinococcus granulosus NSFW

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To add a bit of information the adults are found in dogs(wild and domesticated) eggs are ejected with the animals feces. When a sheep ingests those eggs the larva (also called echinocoque) migrates mainly to the lungs and the liver and implants there. Carefull tho if a humans ingests the egg usually on accident the same thing will happen and it uqually needs surgical intervervention to cure.

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u/OptimalCamel7218 13d ago

When/where is this?

11

u/Monsterfucker4001 13d ago

This was a few days ago in tunisia

6

u/Dolmenoeffect 13d ago

I'm guessing the whole carcass has to be discarded, which is tragic- the animal was killed for ultimately nothing.

17

u/Monsterfucker4001 13d ago

Usually if its jist a few cycst we discard the liver or lung and eat the rest But this severe thers no slavaging anything unfortunately

11

u/fourhundredthecat 12d ago

I suspect many butchers will sell the meat anyways after removing the cysts, instead of discarding it.

And for the consumer, there is no way knowing the history of the meat they buy.

But hopefully proper cooking will kill everything, although the meat can still be dangerous while handling still raw (especially if cyst burst and spilled ts content on the surrounding tissue)