Spirometra

A genus of pseudophyllid tapeworms. [G. speira, coil, + metra, womb (uterus)]

- S. mansoni a species of pseudophyllid tapeworms of wild and feral cats, the larval form of which (sparganum) may survive in human tissues; it has been commonly found in humans in the Orient, but is also reported from widely scattered areas elsewhere; infection of humans with the sparganum occurs from active migration of the larva from freshly split infected frogs used as a poultice for wounds, sore eyes (as in ocular sparganosis), bruises, or ulcerations; it is also likely that humans may be infected with sparganum larvae from eating any vertebrate harboring these plerocercoids. SYN: Diphyllobothrium linguloides, Diphyllobothrium mansoni.

- S. mansonoides a species of pseudophyllid tapeworms from North America, whose larva (sparganum) may be a cause of sparganosis of humans in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico states. SYN: Diphyllobothrium mansonoides.

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Spi·rom·e·tra spī-'räm-ə-trə, spi- n a genus of tapeworms of the order Pseudophyllidea that include several (as S. mansoni of Asia and S. mansonoides of the southern U.S.) which sometimes cause sparganosis in humans

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Spi·ro·me·tra (spi″ro-meґtrə) [spiro-¹ + Gr. metra womb, uterus] a genus of tapeworms of the family Diphyllobothriidae, parasites of fish-eating cats, dogs, and birds. Infection in humans is caused by eating inadequately cooked fish.