It’s just doggone bad luck.
Doctors discovered a cyst twice the size of a tennis ball in the pelvis of a pregnant woman who was rushed to the hospital following months of abdominal pain.
They successfully saved the 26-year-old woman — who was 20 weeks pregnant — before running scans that revealed it was a hydatid cyst, a growth formed by a tapeworm infection that humans most commonly get from interacting with dog poop.
While the case study did not specify what caused the cyst, one veterinarian is letting dog owners know a possible culprit could lie in a treasured activity: letting a dog lick your face.
“Ideally, dogs should not lick faces, especially around the mouth or eyes, as a matter of health,” Dr. Aimee Warner, a resident veterinarian at pet insurance company Waggel, told the Daily Mail.
“Humans are not infected by the adult tapeworms within the dog, but instead ingest Echinococcus eggs passed in dog feces by accident. If a dog has fecal soiling on its mouth or coat and then licks someone, there is a potential — albeit rare — for transmission.”
To avoid contracting the disease, Warner recommends keeping your dog away from raw meat and livestock, getting the pooch dewormed regularly and maintaining good personal hygiene.
“Good pet ownership can be the difference in preventing risks,” she said.
The female patient was from Tunisia, where the researchers note that the Echinococcus granulosus tapeworm is “very common.”
This parasite can lead to severe liver damage in humans and is increasingly being reported in parts of Europe, Canada and the US.
While rare, cases are reported annually in states like Arizona, New Mexico, California and Utah — and are more prevalent in rural areas, particularly those with dogs and sheep.
In 2018, a 35-year-old woman complaining of tingling in her feet was found to have a tapeworm lodged in her spine.
In 2020, doctors were stunned to discover that a woman’s bulging eyes were caused by a cyst that was filled with baby tapeworms.
And in 2024, a New York mother discovered her persistent seizures had been caused by tapeworm eggs in her brain.
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