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Yet it remains challenging to target <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>solium<\/jats:italic> endemic regions precisely or to make exact diagnoses in individual patients. One major reason is that the widely available stool microscopy may identify <jats:italic>Taenia<\/jats:italic> ssp. eggs in stool samples as such, but fails to distinguish between invasive (<jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>solium<\/jats:italic>) and less invasive <jats:italic>Taenia<\/jats:italic> (<jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>saginata<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>asiatica<\/jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>hydatigena<\/jats:italic>) species. The identification of <jats:italic>Taenia<\/jats:italic> ssp. eggs in routine stool samples often prompts a time-consuming and frequently unsuccessful epidemiologic workup in remote villages far away from a diagnostic laboratory. Here we present \u201cmail order\u201d single egg RNA-sequencing, a new method allowing the identification of the exact <jats:italic>Taenia<\/jats:italic> ssp. based on a few eggs found in routine diagnostic stool samples. We provide first <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>solium<\/jats:italic> transcriptome data, which show extremely high mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transcript counts that can be used for subspecies classification. \u201cMail order\u201d RNA-sequencing can be administered by health personnel equipped with basic laboratory tools such as a microscope, a Bunsen burner, and access to an international post office for shipment of samples to a next generation sequencing facility. Our suggested workflow combines traditional stool microscopy, RNA-extraction from single <jats:italic>Taenia<\/jats:italic> eggs with mitochondrial RNA-sequencing, followed by bioinformatic processing with a basic laptop computer. The workflow could help to better target preventive healthcare measures and improve diagnostic specificity in individual patients based on incidental findings of <jats:italic>Taenia<\/jats:italic> ssp. eggs in diagnostic laboratories with limited resources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0009787","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]],"date-time":"2021-12-10T18:36:35Z","timestamp":1639161395000},"page":"e0009787","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Diagnosis of Taenia solium infections based on \u201cmail order\u201d RNA-sequencing of single tapeworm egg isolates from stool samples"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2796-5684","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Henrik","family":"Sadlowski","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6108-2586","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Veronika","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0161-2597","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jonathan","family":"Hiss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Johannes A.","family":"Kuehn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6360-4192","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Christian G.","family":"Schneider","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gideon","family":"Zulu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7573-3423","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Alex","family":"Hachangu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chummy S.","family":"Sikasunge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kabemba E.","family":"Mwape","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andrea S.","family":"Winkler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2824-3891","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Markus","family":"Schuelke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"pntd.0009787.ref001","unstructured":"World Health Organization. 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