An American man who complained of frequent migraines was found to have tapeworm eggs (larvae) in his brain after eating infected bacon.
This 52-year-old went to the doctor because his usual migraines got worse, and the medicines he was taking until then did not help.
A head scan revealed tapeworm larvae in his brain, which cause cysticercosis.
Tapeworms or tapeworms are a class of flatworms that lead an exclusively endoparasitic lifestyle.
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Adults live in the human intestine and cause serious diseases.
Doctors believe that he got tapeworm from eating undercooked bacon, which led to the infection.
Cysticercosis is a type of infection caused by the larvae of the parasite Taenia solium, also known as pork tapeworm, which can lead to the development of cysts (cysticercosis) in the brain.
Someone who has a tapeworm can become infected with its eggs, a process called autoinfection, which can pass out of the body as waste and infect others living in the same household.
Consuming undercooked pork cannot directly cause cysticercosis.
Investigating this case, doctors wrote in the American Journal that one can only speculate how cysticercosis was transmitted by autoinfection and that it may have been caused by poor hand hygiene.
Given his habit of eating undercooked pork, doctors assumed he contracted the disease because of "eating habits."
The patient responded to antiparasitic and anti-inflammatory drugs and recovered quickly.
'Poor hygiene'
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tapeworm larvae travel to the muscles and brain and form cysts.
When cysts are found in the brain, the condition is called neurocysticercosis.
"People get cysticercosis when they swallow eggs that are excreted in the feces of a person with a tapeworm," the report from the Center states.
Tapeworm eggs are spread "through food, water or surfaces contaminated with faeces".
"People ingest the eggs when they eat contaminated food or put contaminated fingers in their mouths," the report said.
It is added that someone with tapeworm can infect himself (autoinfection) and others who live with him in the household.
Experts say that eating undercooked pork cannot cause cysticercosis - nor is the condition common in America or Great Britain, where pork undergoes rigorous testing.
The highest rates of this condition are recorded in certain parts of Latin America, Asia and Africa, and most often in rural areas where pigs, carriers of pork tapeworm, are allowed to roam freely, and hygiene and food safety are at a low level.
People are most at risk of such infections due to insufficient hand hygiene or ingestion of contaminated food or water.
"It is very rare for patients to contract neurocysticercosis outside of classic exposure or travel, and such cases were thought to be non-existent in the United States," the report states.
They say the case highlights the risk of undercooked pork and subsequent autoinfection.
"Historically, it is very unusual to encounter infected pork in the United States," the report concluded.
Watch the video: Live worm extracted from human brain for the first time
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