When most people think of parasites, they visualize tapeworms, hookworms, roundworms, or flatworms. The Centers for Disease Control says that tapeworm infestation has doubled in frequency within the past 10 years. This is most likely due to the consumption of undercooked beef. Fleas have been known to carry tapeworms, so it is possible to get them if you have pets. Roundworms average 6 to 18 inches in length and can lay thousands of eggs each day.
Roundworm infections is abundant in meat eating cultures.
One type of the flatworm, a fluke can live in the intestines, liver, lungs or blood. Trichnina is a tiny worm that infects pigs. The larvae, after burrowing into the intestinal wall, enters the blood vessels. The blood carries the larvae to the muscle fiber's where these worms live and grow. The rise of immigration, especially from these areas, also contributes to the epidemic in North America.