Background
Cysticercosis, a tissue infection that involves larval cysts of the cestode Taenia solium (the human pork tapeworm), results from the ingestion of food (especially vegetables) and water contaminated with human feces that contain T solium eggs.
Although infections with Taenia tapeworm cysts may involve many parts of the body, the most common site of severe symptomatic infection is the CNS. See the image below.
Cysticercosis life cycle. Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Neurocysticercosis, the most common parasitic disease of the CNS, is the most common cause of adult-onset epilepsy in many of the countries where the infection is endemic.