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<categorytree mode=pages style="float:right; clear:right; margin-left:1ex; border:1px solid gray; padding:0.7ex; background-color:white;">Parasites</categorytree>
<categorytree mode=pages style="float:right; clear:right; margin-left:1ex; border:1px solid gray; padding:0.7ex; background-color:white;">Parasites</categorytree>
[[Image:Soybean cyst nematode EM.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Soybean Cyst Nematode and Egg, Scanning Electron Micrograph - Wikimedia Commons]]
[[Image:Soybean cyst nematode EM.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Soybean Cyst Nematode and Egg, Scanning Electron Micrograph - Wikimedia Commons]]
The term helminth is commonly used to describe parasitic worms, all with eukaryotic cell structures. The two main groups are the '''Nematodes''' (roundworms) and the '''Platyhelminthes''' (flatworms).[[Image:729px-Soybean cyst nematode and egg SEM.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Soybean cyst nematode and egg]]
*'''Nematodes''': typically long and slender, the nematodes are dioecious (male and female individuals) and are generally found attached to the intestinal wall
**Hookworms- widely endemic in the tropics, hookworms hatch on soil and enter the host through the feet. Pathogenesis involves intestinal irritation and haemorrhage.
**Giant roundworms- found worldwide, hosts are infected by ingesting eggs from faeces of infected individuals. Symptoms include intestinal irritation and malnutrition
**Pinworms- found in temperate areas, eggs hatch in the intestine after ingestion
**Pork worm- found worldwide, pork worms can infect most carnivorous animals, causing trichinosis.
**Filarial worms- various species found in tropical and subtropical areas depending on distribution of insect vectors, causes allergic reactions and potentially blindness
*'''Platyhelminthes'''[[Image:Tenia solium scolex.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Scolex, with hooks, of ''T. solium'' tapeworm]]
**Trematodes- commonly known as the 'flukes,' trematodes are non-segmented and have alternate sexual and non-sexual generations in different hosts. They are mostly hermaphroditic except the blood flukes, which are dioecious.
**Cestodes- commonly known as the 'tapeworms,' these consist of an enlarged head section ('scolex'), with suckers or hooks for attachment in the intestine and successive flat segments forming a chain of 'proglottids'
==Helminths of Veterinary Importance==
==Helminths of Veterinary Importance==