tapeworms in Salmon?

http://wsvn.com/news/us-world/us-salmon-may-carry-japanese-tapeworm-scientists-say/

I don't eat fish.
fp

Interestingly, I heard that they are in pink, chum, and sockeye. So far. Masou, too, but we don't have them here any more.

Here's another link

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/science/...-alaska-salmon/

"Researchers warn that salmon caught anywhere along the Pacific coast of North America may be infected."

Sounds more gross than anything else. Interesting that most people would never even know they have them until they see pieces of them in their [Bleeeeep!].

Same for other fish-eating critters

Love that great vacuum packer and -40 degree cold storage we use in Alaska! Worried about parasites? Interesting as my vet for the past 18 years always passes on the fish I offer to share with her... Hmmmmm Raw fish? No thanks :-)

There is a link to a good booklet, https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/species/disease/pdfs/fish_disease_book.pdf in that article.

I used to eat a lot of sushi, until about 10 years ago I made a pit stop in the bathroom at Outdoor Emporium, and after wiping pulled about 4 feet of tapeworm out of my bunghole. It was a horrifying experience, to say the least. Got a one-dose med, a big chewable table like Vit C wafer the next day that was supposed to dissove the critter, apparently it did, but that was the end of sushi for this cowboy. Have seen worms in Puget Sound chinook at time while cleaning the fish, but I don't think those are tapeworms.

Last summer, my dogs started to doing the "doggie robot" after finishing their business so I knew they had picked up worms. After the vet took care of them, he turned to me and said "now we fix you up". I'm like WTF Doc? And he's like "ya, you too and here's a couple of horse pills for ya free of charge". So I took em' and I'll be damed if I didn't chit a bowl of what looked like "white rice". Only it wasn't "white rice".

FYI - Adult Tapeworms are gut worms. If you see an adult worm in a cleaned fillet, its not a tape worm. The non-adult or larval cyst stage or "cystercerci" are contained within the flesh. Tapeworms need 2 different hosts to complete its lifecycle. For example, larval cysts live in the muscle meat of big game. A Wolf eats said big game and BOOM...adult tapeworms in the Wolf's lower intestine. Then the Wolf poops and spreads the eggs for the big game to eat while grazing and the cycle repeats.

Fun Tapeworm Facts:
1) Adult TW's are typically 12 - 14 ft. long. The longest ever recorded from a Human host was 82 feet!!!!
2) They can grow about 1 centimeter PER HOUR!!!
3) Worldwide, right now about 20 million poor souls have one inside them and they don't even know it
4) They can live for up to 25 years in their host without complication.
5) Drugs to treat are are Praziquantel (Biltricide) and Albendazole (Albenza). Eating Diatomaceous Earth will also to the trick
6) Sudden, rapid weight loss accompanied with tiredness, upset stomach and the squirts are generally the only symptons (if any).

Lastly, think about this. Tapeworm eggs survive going through all known digestive tracts without dying and being broken down. So they can survive some the harshest acids in the world. Partially or undercooking your food does nothing to the eggs / cysts. Bon Appetit!

Mammals are NOT the only hosts to adult worms. Not certain if they were the same species infecting the intestinal tracts of mammals, but I have personally observed adult tapeworms in local salmon. CanyonMan, fish4brains, and I were enjoying my birthday float down a coastal WA stream. As I was gutting out the catch, f4b pointed into the shallows where I was discarding the offal and asked with a bit of alarm, "Hey... what is that, it looks like a tapeworm?"

I watched carefully as the 1/4 inch wide multi-segmented white ribbon undulated in the water... by golly IT WAS a tapeworm!

"Is it safe?" he asked.

"Sure, no problem," I replied. "It's only inside the gut and doesn't affect the meat."

....

The adult tapeworms that we are able to readily identify by their characteristic ribbon-like shape live entirely in the digestive tract, not the meat.

There they simply bask in the digestive soup soaking up all the goodness the host has to offer.

Each of those tapeworm segments contains thousands of eggs. They are shed by the worm one segment at a time as the eggs mature, and are then excreted by the salmon as infected feces. The eggs hatch and are eaten by zooplankton which are in turn eaten by small fish.... and on up the food chain they go.

YUM…..

When life gives you lemons, you gotta make lemonade. How about milt sacs and fettuccine al fredo?



...

Just kidding....

yumm

Since that gross-out, I now use disposable nitrile gloves when cleaning kings. One upside---hands don't smell like fish!

Lake WA yellow perch definitely have some sort of tapeworm. Have cleaned many YP where these yellow ribbons are wiggling in the gut pile.

Not a problem. Any infection in the meat itself is cured by beer batter and a bath in hot oil.