Parasites Like Tapeworms, Flatworms, Flukes May Have Greater Negative Effect on Overall Health of Their Mammal Hosts

Researchers from the University of Alberta recently suggested that from cattle to uncontrolled wildlife, aggravating yet pervasive large parasites like tapeworms have a far greater effect on the total body health of their mammal hosts compared to the previously known.

A Phys.org report said that according to Kyle Shanebeck, a Ph.D. student in the Faculty Science's Department of Biological Sciences who led the research, parasites do not need to kill the animal to control a population.

All wildlife, Shanebeck explained, have at least one and frequently multiple parasites. The less deadly a parasite, the more prevalent it becomes within a population, with possibly more substantial negative impacts.

Such parasites can impact the ability of an animal to absorb nutrients, which can impact digestive health and behavior, making them more aggressive, not to mention even changing where they feed.

Parasites in Mammals

Shanebeck also said that such parasites are suppressing immune action or weakening it, as the body is spending energy to mount an immune response to combat them, which can worsen a secondary infection.

For this research published in the Biological Reviews journal, the team headed by Shanebeck organized the different effects of parasites on the host according to their impact on the energetic condition of an animal.

A meta-analysis of parasites in the wild, laboratory, and domestic mammal hosts produced more than 140 peer-reviewed studies documenting nearly 600 infection-condition impacts.

The researchers discovered consistently solid adverse effects of infection on energetic host conditions throughout taxonomic groups.

Large Parasites

Large parasites such as tapeworms, flukes, and flatworms eat carbohydrates, making them less available to the animal.

Shakebeck likens it to a power grid where energy is redirected when faced with a supply challenge, exhausting reserves. The so-called "rolling blackouts" occur as the body begins to decide between survival and reproduction.

For instance, parasitic worms in cattle will not kill the animal, although the resulting immune stress and other conditions such as diarrhea may impact milk production, extracting a financial toll on the farming industry.

In less controlled wildlife backgrounds, the general health effects of parasites are more difficult to gauge, which may be one reason such impacts are considered negligible.

Normally, evaluating population health in wildlife usually focuses on pathogenic illnesses, the frequently deadly diseases that can spread between species and possibly from animals to humans.

Tapeworms

Medical News Today describes tapeworms as "intestinal parasites shaped similarly to a tape measure." Additionally, a parasite is a plant or animal living inside another plant or animal.

Essentially, a tapeworm cannot freely live on its own. It survives within the gut of animals, as well as humans.

Furthermore, tapeworm eggs usually enter a human host from animals by means of foods, specifically raw or undercooked meat.

Lastly, humans can contract tapeworms if they have close contact with animal feces or contaminated water. When an infection passes from an animal to a human, it is commonly known as "zoonosis."

Related information about tapeworms is shown on Animal Fact Files' YouTube video below:

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