Cysticercosis

Cysticercosis means infestation with cysticerci, the larvae of the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. Eating food or drinking water carrying tapeworm eggs can cause it. The larvae normally mature in swine, the usual animal host, while people pick up the adult worm from undercooked infected meat; but eggs swallowed directly hatch and lodge in human tissues, worst of all the brain, where they trigger neurocysticercosis and seizures. Sanitation, thorough pork cooking and meat inspection to spot infected carcasses are the defences.