If you're planning on eating sushi for lunch, this may make you reconsider your bento box choice...
According to news reports in China, a man found himself riddled with hundreds of tapeworms after eating sashimi believed to be contaminated with the parasite eggs.
Tain Liao first visited doctors to complain of stomach ache and itchy skin, report HK.on.cc, but an x-ray quickly revealed that his entire body was infected with tapeworms.
Behold.
The (stomach-churning) x-rays, taken at the Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital in eastern China's Guangdong province, show that the parasites had infected most of his upper body, his legs and organs.
Tapeworms are quite rare in the UK and are more commonly seen in developing countries.
According to the NHS, tapeworms are known medically as cestodes. They are usually flat and ribbon-like and made up of segments, some worms can grow to 4.5-9m (15-30 feet) in length. Bleurgh.
Humans can catch tapeworms by:
- touching contaminated faeces (stools) and then placing their hands near their mouth
- swallowing food or water containing traces of contaminated faeces
- eating raw contaminated pork, beef or fish