the.com/tapeworm
a freeloading ribbon that lives in your gut and never once says thank you.
means A long, flat parasitic worm that lives in the intestines of humans or animals, absorbing nutrients from its host's food.
from A plain English compound of "tape" (a long, narrow strip — from Old English "tæppe," a band or strip of cloth) and "worm" (Old English "wyrm," once meaning any creeping thing, even serpents and dragons). The name simply describes the creature's flat, ribbon-like body, which can stretch to startling lengths — a worm shaped like a measuring tape.
- length
- some species stretch over 80 feet inside hosts
- no mouth
- absorbs nutrients straight through its skin
- self-clone
- each body segment is a complete egg factory
- diet fad
- once sold as weight-loss pills to Victorians
- headstrong
- its head must die or it regrows entirely
diphyllobothrium latum — fish tapeworm infecting ~20 million people in eastern europe, russia, and asia
taenia solium — pork tapeworm causing neurocysticercosis, endemic in mexico and latin america
echinococcus multilocularis — alveolar echinococcosis affecting ~180,000 in china, central asia, and europe