Fresno man pulls out a 5-foot tapeworm while on the toilet

FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) — 

A Fresno doctor thought he had heard it all... until this.

Dr. Kenny Banh says the man came in complaining of bloody diarrhea, which is fairly common, but then he said he wanted to be tested for worms.

Things got even more interesting when the man opened a grocery bag he was carrying.

Inside the bag was giant tapeworm wrapped around a toilet paper roll.

The man told Dr. Banh he sat down on the toilet, and while he was taking care of business, he felt something wiggling.

At first, he thought his guts were coming out but started to pull on it and it just kept coming and coming.

The man took an empty paper roll and started wrapping it around and around.

He then put the roll in a bag and headed to Community Regional Medical Center.

At the hospital, they rolled the tapeworm out on paper towels on the floor and it measured 5-1/2 feet.

So where did the tapeworm come from?

The man said he hadn’t traveled or had any questionable drinking water that he could think of.

He did, however, tell Banh, “I eat raw salmon almost every day.”

Dr. Banh says he believes that was the cause and also believes the man didn't get it all out.

The good news is the cure is simple – the same pill that people give to infected dogs can be given to humans.

Dr. Banh originally told the story of the tapeworm on the podcast, "This Won't Hurt A Bit."