Doctors found hundreds of tapeworms in a man's brain. Undercooked pork may be to blame
A 46-year-old Chinese man who was hospitalized for epilepsy had hundreds of tapeworms in his brain — likely caused by eating undercooked pork.
Doctors at the First Affiliated Hospital of College of Medicine at Zhejiang University performed an MRI on the man and found hundreds of tapeworms in his brain — known as neurocysticercosis — according to CNN and Chinese news site Pear Video.
The man, a construction worker who lives in the city of Wuhan but was not identified, was hospitalized for a recurring headache and seizures, according to a report issued in November 2019 by the hospital located in Hangzhou.
The man told doctors that he had eaten hot pot — a boiling broth usually filled with assorted meats and vegetables — with pork and mutton, which may have not been cooked thoroughly.
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In the report, the man told doctors that due to the ruddied color of the spicy broth, he wasn't able to tell if the meat was fully cooked.
"There are multiple presences of space-occupying lesions in the patient's brain," Dr. Wang Jian-rong told Pear Video, according to a translation by Newsweek. The lesions, according to the World Health Organization, occupy parts of the central nervous system, which result in seizures and headaches.
Further scans also found more tapeworms in his lungs and his chest.
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The man has since recovered after doctors depressurized his skull and dewormed his brain, per the report, though it is unclear if there are any long-term risks to his health.
Neurocysticerosis comes from undercooked, infected pork, according to the WHO. When pigs get infected with tapeworm eggs — usually passed on by the feces of an individual infected with tapeworms — it can pass on to humans when consumed, causing tapeworm eggs to fester in the brain. Once they hatch, they can stay there for two to three years if untreated, per the WHO.
The organization notes that improved food safety practices and further meat inspection could reduce cases of tapeworm eggs in meat.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chinese man had tapeworms in brain after eating undercooked pork
