beef tapeworm infection [OF, buef, cow; AS, taeppe, wyrm] , an infection caused by the tapeworm Taenia saginata, transmitted to humans when they eat contaminated beef. The adult worm can live for years in the intestine of humans without causing any symptoms. The infection is rarely found in North America and Western Europe, where beef is carefully inspected before being made available and is often thoroughly cooked before eating, but it is common in other parts of the world. Infection can be prevented by cooking beef until it is no longer pink inside. A public health measure is to prevent cattle from eating vegetation contaminated with human feces. See tapeworm infection.
