# Cysticercosis from pork or not ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752 "2015-11-05T20:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/1 "2015-11-05T20:09:43Z")
The CDC says you can’t get cysticercosis from eating pork [http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cysticercosis/gen\_info/faqs.html](http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cysticercosis/gen_info/faqs.html) > [@](#): > > Eating pork cannot give you cysticercosis. But multiple other sources say you can > **[A study of neuropsychiatric manifestations in patients of neurocysticercosis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777348/)** > > Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is an endemic parasitic infection of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and central Europe. Neuropsychiatric manifestations of the illness include epilepsy and behavioral disturbances. There is a dearth of systematic studies on... > [@](#): > > The illness is especially common in areas where pork is consumed such as Sub-Saharan Africa, India, and in most countries of Southeast Asia.[[1](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777348/#ref1),[2](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777348/#ref2),[3](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777348/#ref3),[4](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777348/#ref4)] NCC is characterized by the deposition of cysticerci in the brain as a result of eating of undercooked pork What’s the truth here ? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/2 "2015-11-05T20:12:06Z")
From your CDC link: > [@](#): > > What is the relationship between human tapeworm and porcine (pig) cysticercosis? > Humans get the tapeworm infection after eating raw or undercooked pork contaminated with cysts of T. solium. When swallowed the cysts pass through the stomach and attach to the lining of the small intestine. In the small intestine the cysts develop into adult tapeworms over about two months. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/3 "2015-11-05T20:18:41Z")
So maybe it means just the act of eating pork, in case people think that uncontaminated pork will give you the disease too ? Odd. OK I think this is solved, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/4 "2015-11-05T20:24:42Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > So maybe it means just the act of eating pork, in case people think that uncontaminated pork will give you the disease too ? Odd. > > OK I think this is solved, thanks. I think in that article they are distinguishing between the disease cystirecosis and the tapeworm eggs. Eating pork can infect you with the tapeworm eggs, which may lead to development of the disease. However eating pork itself doesn’t cause the disease. They mention later you can get the eggs from other people, but not the disease, so it seems like a point they are trying to make. I agree it is not particularly clear. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/5 "2015-11-05T20:35:19Z")
You don’t get cysticercosis directly from eating infected pork, but eating infected pork is part of the cycle. Here’s a [diagram of the cycle:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cysticercosis#/media/File:Life_cycle.gif) pig meat infected with cystcerci \> human eats infected pork with cystcerci\> tapeworms develop from cysterci in human’s intestine \> tapeworm lay eggs which are shed in feces \> tapeworm eggs are ingested by human \> eggs hatch and cystercerci develop in human muscle and other tissues So cystercerci in humans develop from tapeworm eggs, not from the cystercerci in the infected pork ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/6 "2015-11-05T20:37:37Z")
So they (CDC) are maybe trying to distinguish between two different stages in the life cycle ? I know there was a full treatment of this topic on the boards here recently, which was pretty interesting. > **[Cysticercosis](https://academic.oup.com/book/27861/chapter-abstract/198533548?redirectedFrom=fulltext)** > > Known since the Hippocratic era, cysticercosis is the commonest helminthic infection of the human central nervous system. It is probable that the suspicion > [@](#): > > Ingestion of raw or undercooked pork can lead to infection with the _T. solium_ cysticercus, formerly known as ‘_Cysticercus cellulosae_’, which is an immature tapeworm. Once attached to the person’s small intestine, the cysticercus develops segments (proglottids) to become an adult tapeworm. Proglottids discharged in the faeces contain tens of thousands of ova that can autoinfect the human host or pigs and other susceptible mammals. Ingestion of _T. solium_ ova, for example by the faecal-oral route in those infected with adult tapeworms or their close contacts, or by eating food contaminated with raw sewage, can result in development of cysticerci in various tissues, but not an adult tapeworm. The ingested ova release embryos that penetrate the intestinal mucosa and migrate in the blood stream to the brain (causing neurocysticercosis), muscles, and subcutaneous tissues. Only by ingesting _T. solium_ ova can humans develop cysticercosis. ---
**Author:** ![MrQwertyasd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@MrQwertyasd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrQwertyasd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/7 "2015-11-05T20:40:26Z")
I was just having a scan of the neurological effects of infection to see if it caused aggressive or hypersexual behaviour in a similar way to brain tumors. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/8 "2015-11-05T20:49:59Z")
> [@MrQwertyasd](#): > > So they (CDC) are maybe trying to distinguish between two different stages in the life cycle ? I think so, but it’s not written very clearly. You get tapeworms from eating the infected pork, but cysticercosis from ingesting tapeworm eggs. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cysticercosis-from-pork-or-not/736752/9 "2015-11-06T17:32:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I think so, but it’s not written very clearly. You get tapeworms from eating the infected pork, but Cysticercosis from ingesting tapeworm eggs. In fact, there are two distinct pork tapeworm parasitic diseases. One is [Taeniasis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taeniasis), which is infestation of the intestines with live adult tapeworms after consuming pork (pig tissue, usually muscle) which was infected with tapeworm cysts. This is the “intended” portion of the parasitic life cycle, because the tapeworm survives and lays eggs into the output of the digestive process (crap), which sets the stage for the other phase of the tapeworm’s life cycle. This disease can actually be harmless and symptomless. The other infestation disease is [Cystercercosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cysticercosis), which is infestation with tapeworm cysts. When it occurs in humans, it’s usually a “mistake” with respect to the tapeworm’s life cycle, because it’s a dead end. It’s supposed to happen to animals that humans eat, like pigs. This part of the tapeworm life cycle starts with consuming the eggs (deposited in feces in the previous part of the life cycle). The eggs hatch into larval tapeworms that burrow into the pig’s (or human’s) tissue and create a cyst to live in. When the pig is slaughtered and eaten, the cyst is eaten along with the meat and goes into the eater’s stomach to hatch into an adult tapeworm, continuing the life cycle as discussed above. If the eggs are consumed by something that doesn’t become food for another animal, the cyst stage is a dead end; the cysts die along with the host without being ingested and growing up into a tapeworm. Since we tend to not allow humans to be consumed as food (whether taken as prey or scavenged as carrion), most cases of human cysticercosis is a dead end for the tapeworm, but that’s poor comfort if cyst proliferation turns your brain into Swiss cheese. :eek: