Biological control of Taenia saginata eggs

Abstract

Taenia saginata, is a cestode with zoonotic potentially. The objective of this work was to evaluate the ovicide activity (type 3 effect) of the fungus, Paecilomyces lilacinus (PL1), on the eggs of Taenia saginata, in vitro. The eggs were inverted in Petri dishes containing PL1, or in Petri dishes without the fungus (control). After 5, 10, or 15 days, we extracted approximately 100 eggs for evaluation and for classifying the ovicide activity. At the end of the 15 days of interaction, a significant difference (p < 0.05) due to the ovicide activity of PL1, was noted in relation to the control group, with a medium percentage (type 3 effect) at 24.6 %. These results show that the fungus, P.lilacinus (PL1), destroyed the eggs of T. saginata, suggesting its biological control potential of the eggs of this cestode.