Tapeworm Egg Destruction: Prevention & Risks for Pets & Humans

The individual "squares" of a tapeworm contain egg sacs. When excreted, the sacs can be ingested by flea larvae, which as adults may infest your pet's fur. If licked by the pet, the flea dies but the eggs survive to infect its intestines. Pets' tapeworm excretions can also contaminate water sources, enabling human ingestion of the eggs. Tapeworm larvae have a tendency to burrow out of the intestine to other parts of the body. Meat can be contaminated this way, leading to human ingestion not of eggs but of larvae, which is just as bad.

Things You'll Need

• Boiling water

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Instructions

• 1

  Cook meat (both beef and pork) at 150 degrees Fahrenheit (66 degrees Celsius). Alternately, freeze meat for 12 hours and freshwater fish for 24 hours at temperatures under -10 degrees C or 14 degrees F. Don't eat undercooked freshwater fish.

• 2

  Pickle fish and smoke meat and fish, although these are not as reliable at killing the tapeworm eggs and larvae as is cooking.

• 3

  Boil water that has possibly been contaminated with fecal matter for at least two minutes, to kill tapeworm eggs and larvae.