Vaccination for the prevention of cysticercosis

Abstract

Several species of taeniid cestode parasites cause cysticercosis in their intermediate hosts. The most important species is Taenia solium, which infects pigs as the natural animal intermediate host but also may infect humans as intermediate hosts, leading to the disease known as neurocysticercosis. T. solium has been identified as a potentially eradicable disease and increasing attention is being placed on efforts to control transmission of the parasite. One option to assist with control of the disease is to prevent infection occurring in pigs by vaccination, thereby breaking the parasite's life-cycle and removing the source of infection for humans. Several approaches are being examined towa..