A preliminary report on Meriones unguiculatus as an experimental host for Taenia saginata metacestodes

Jirds (Meriones unguiculatus) were treated with dexamethasone and inoculated subcutaneously with 100-300 oncospheres of Taenia saginata. Ten of the jirds received 0.5 mg of the drug per animal twice weekly during the first month after inoculation and then once a week until necropsy and four of these became infected. Up to 20 viable metacestodes were recovered in the subcutaneous tissue at the site of inoculation three months after infection.