Taenia Saginata Tapeworm Infection in a Traveler to Mexico.

A 29-year-old, Ethiopian-born, female student in her fourth year at a local college traveled from Houston to Mexico City during a Christmas vacation. While in Mexico City, she recalled eating uncooked beef. Several weeks after returning to Houston, she noticed white, moving objects in her stool. The objects were flat and variable in length, up to several centimeters. She was concerned that the objects were parasites and came in for evaluation. She was presumptively treated with niclosamide, 2 g by mouth, followed by a purgative of magnesium citrate. Within 1 hour, she passed 20 tapeworm proglottids, which initially were noted to be motile (Fig. 1). Examination of proglottids confirmed that the worm was a Taenia saginata.