Diet/Feeding Nematodes feed on organic matter, both dead and alive such as small animals including other worms, or on diatoms, algae, fungi and bacteria. Some eat plants by piercing the stem or root and sucking out the contents.
How do roundworms feed and digest?
Roundworms have tube digestive systems, meaning ingested food travels a single route. It enters through the mouth, is ground down in the pharynx, is digested in the gut, and is eliminated from the anus. The mouth is on one end of the body and the anus is on the opposite end.
What do roundworms feed on in the human body?
They feed off the blood of the infected person, which can cause anemia. Children are especially vulnerable to this kind of infection. These roundworms infect about 25% of the world's population.
How does roundworm transmit?
It often lives in human feces (poop). People catch it through hand-to-mouth contact. If you have a roundworm infection of your intestines (ascariasis), you may not have symptoms.
How do roundworms work?
If the infective eggs of Toxocara canis are swallowed by people, the larvae can invade the tissues and become encysted in various organs. Humans act like any other paratenic or accidental host. If a young child ingests a large number of infected eggs, clinical disease may become apparent.
