001115 Heathcast: Tapeworm In Pork Can Cause ProblemsNovember 4, 2000Pennsylvania - WTAE-TV medical editor Marilyn Brooks reports that tapeworms can burrow into a human brain after a person eats undercooked pork. Cases of the potentially fatal parasite have turned up in Texas and New York. It hasn't made its way to Pennsylvania yet, but Brooks said that we should be careful when we make pork products for dinner. The condition associated with the tapeworm is neurocysticersosis. Doctors said that people who eat in Mexico and Central America and then travel back to the United States may pass the worm to others through fecal contamination. "When people are involved with intimate contact and get those tapeworm eggs on their hands or their nails and then it gets on the hands of other people, that is how they are infected," said Baylor College Of Medicine's Dr. Clinton White. Symptoms include headaches, vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, stroke and seizures. Symptoms may go unnoticed until a CT scan or MRI are performed. Untreated, the condition can result in death. Treatment can last years and includes medication or surgery. The best way to prevent the parasite is to remember to wash your hands and make certain that all pork is well-cooked. If you're traveling in Mexico or other Latin American countries, avoid native dishes that contain pork.
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