Cysticercosis (Pork Tapeworm, Taeniasis) Taeniasis is an
intestinal infection with the adult stage of large tapeworms;
cysticercosis is a tissue infection with the larval stage of the
pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. Other Taenia species can
occasionally cause cysticercosis as well. People get pork
tapeworm from eating raw or undercooked infected pork. Infected
pork may look “measly” because it has larval cysts in the
muscle. The larval cysts develop into adult tapeworms in the
person’s intestine and produce a large number of eggs. Eggs are
passed in the stool and are then spread through food, water, or
surfaces contaminated with feces. People develop cysticercosis
by swallowing these eggs. The eggs hatch in the small intestine
and larvae migrate to various tissues throughout the body, where
they form cysts. This is called cysticercosis. If the cysts are
in the brain, the condition is called neurocysticercosis.
Tapeworms are found worldwide; however, infection is more common
in countries where pigs roam freely a