Eucestoda the "broad tapeworm" or "fish tapeworm") and related species. Humans become infected by eating raw, undercooked, or marinated fish acting as a second intermediate or paratenic host harboring metacestodes or plerocercoid larvae. Clinical symptoms are due to the large size of the tapeworm, which often reaches a length exceeding 15 m. The most common symptom is pernicious anemia, caused by the absorption of vitamin B12 by the worm. Other symptoms include various intestinal issues, slight leukocytosis, and eosinophilia. This condition is caused by the plerocercoid larvae of the tapeworm "Spirometra". Humans become infected by drinking contaminated water, eating raw or
Foodborne illness phrase "ptomaine poisoning" is now obsolete. Tainted potato salad sickening hundreds at a Communist political convention in Massillon, Ohio, and aboard a Washington DC cruise boat in separate incidents during a single week in 1932 drew national attention to the dangers of so-called "ptomaine poisoning" in the pages of the American news weekly, "Time." Another newspaper article from 1944 told of more than 150 persons being hospitalized in Chicago with ptomaine poisoning apparently from rice pudding served by a chain of restaurants. The delay between the consumption of contaminated food and the appearance of the first symptoms of illness is