Classification: ICD-9 123.1; ICD-10 B 69.0
Syndromes and synonyms: Taenia solium infection, neurocysticercosis, cerebral cysticercosis, taeniosis, taeniasis.
Agent: Larval stage of the pork tapeworm T. solium. Adult T. solium can be 2–5 meters in length and lives in the small intestine of human host.
Reservoir: Humans are the definitive host; pigs are an intermediate host.
Transmission: Cysticercosis develops after ingesting T. solium eggs; Taeniasis (tapeworm carriage) occurs after ingestion of raw or undercooked pork meat with cysticerci; human to human transmission is by the feco–oral route.
Cycle: Pigs or humans ingest eggs from contaminated environment. Adult tapeworms will only develop in humans after eating raw or undercooked pork containing cysticerci. It takes 2 months for larvae to become an adult worm and produce eggs (up to 300,000 eggs per day). In pigs, eggs invade the general circulation via the intestinal wall and migrate to skeletal and heart muscles where they form cysticerci.
Incubation period: It takes 2 months (range: 5–12 weeks) to mature to an adult worm in the intestine. The incubation period of neurocysticercosis (time from infection to first symptom) is extremely variable from months to several years.
Clinical findings: Taeniosis is T. solium
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