*Doctors in Florida discovered tapeworm eggs within the brain of a man who had been eating undercooked pork.
The 52-year-old man sought medical treatment due to severe headaches, PEOPLE reports. A CT scan revealed a mass initially believed to be “congenital neuroglial cysts,” according to a report published in the American Journal of Case Reports. Further examinations, including an MRI, confirmed that the masses were the larvae of tapeworms.
He informed his physicians about his history of consuming soft, undercooked bacon, suspected to be the source of his infection. According to the CDC, the condition, known as neurocysticercosis, can result in seizures and, in severe cases, may even lead to death, PEOPLE reports.
The physicians stated, “It can only be speculated, but given our patient’s predilection for undercooked pork and benign exposure history, we favor that his cysticercosis was transmitted via autoinfection after improper handwashing after he had contracted taeniasis himself from his eating habits.”
The CDC said, “Neurocysticercosis is a preventable parasitic infection caused by larval cysts of the pork tapeworm (Taenia solium).”
According to the CDC, “A person eats undercooked, infected pork and gets a tapeworm infection in the intestines. She passes tapeworm eggs in her feces. If she doesn’t wash her hands properly after using the bathroom, she may contaminate food or surfaces with feces containing these eggs. These eggs may be swallowed by another person if they eat contaminated food. Once inside the body, the eggs hatch and become larvae that find their way to the brain. These larvae cause neurocysticercosis.”
The Florida man received treatment involving antiparasitic and anti-inflammatory medications and was advised to attend follow-up appointments at an infectious diseases clinic, PEOPLE reports.
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