Mesocestoides litteratus is a commonly occurring parasite in Europe and primarily parasitizes the intestines of foxes and other carnivores. The external appearance can vary greatly depending on the host and location. For example, the size of the paruterine organ (“egg storage organ”) in individual proglottids can range from 230 – 710 µm x 191 – 530 µm (Literák et al., 2006). The family Mesocestoidae has not been sufficiently studied, and therefore, the complete life cycle of this parasite is not yet known (Lucius et al., 2018).

Human Pathogenicity: Infection of humans with the cestode M. litteratus is known (Lucius et al., 2018), although the specific effects of such an infection are not yet understood.