Figure 1.

Life cycle of Taenia solium cysticerci. Humans become infected with the adult worm by eating undercooked pork containing cysticerci and develop taeniosis (tapeworm infection) , . Tapeworm eggs or gravid proglottids are excreted from an infected human host into the environment and can be taken up by freely roaming pigs that develop porcine cysticercosis with cysticerci that mainly form in their muscles . The porcine cysticercosis/taeniosis cycle is complete once undercooked infected pork meat is again consumed by a human host . Taenia solium eggs are not only infectious to pigs (paratenic or intermediate hosts) but also to humans , . They can be ingested following direct or indirect (via faecal matter) contact with tapeworm carriers , , which represents the most common route of infection, as well as through the consumption of water or food contaminated with tapeworm eggs . However, the latter is of much less relevance. When humans ingest Taenia solium eggs through faecal–oral transmission or possible autoinfection, they become accidental hosts of the larval stage of the parasite and develop human cysticercosis . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website for parasite identification: http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Taeniasis.htm.