New study confirms endemic pig tapeworm risk in northern Uganda

In a recent study conducted in northern Uganda, researchers have confirmed that the region is a hyperendemic area for the pork tapeworm, or Taenia solium.

The study found a prevalence of 17.4% for porcine cysticercosis, an infection in pigs caused by the tapeworm.

Additionally, pigs that were free roaming, provided with borehole water or from households that lacked a toilet had a higher chance of infection with the pork tapeworm.

The cross-sectional study, published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (Aug 2025), was conducted in four districts in northern Uganda to validate the geospatial risk maps which identified hyperendemic areas within the region and to determine the prevalence and risk factors of porcine cysticercosis.

The co-authors of the study are affiliated to the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Makerere University, University of Edinburgh, University of Prince Edward Island, and Agago, Kitgum, Lamwo and Pader district local government veterinary offices.

About the pork tapeworm
Taenia solium (also known as the pork tapeworm) is a neglected zoonotic parasite that causes taeniasis and cysticercosis infections in humans and porcine cysticercosis in pigs.

Ingesting the pork tapeworm eggs (normally due to open defecation by a tapeworm carrier) results in cysticercosis in both pigs and humans.

Neurocysticercosis, a form of human cysticercosis where the pork tapeworm cysts lodge in the brain, is the leading cause of adult-onset epilepsy in endemic areas.

Roadmap for disease control
To reduce the burden of this debilitating disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) included Taenia solium cysticercosis in the 2021–2030 roadmap for the control of neglected tropical diseases which recommends the implementation of control interventions within hyperendemic areas.

To achieve the targets laid out in the WHO 2021–2030 roadmap for the control of neglected tropical diseases, the authors of the research study recommend intensified control interventions in the region using the One Health approach, focusing on both human and pig populations.

Such interventions could include improved sanitation and pig husbandry practices, as well as community-wide education to break the cycle of pork tapeworm transmission.

Citation
Ngwili, N., Ahimbisibwe, S., Korir, M., Bole, S., Kankya, C., Kinyera, A., Avudraga, S.V., Okeny, R.S., Kenny, R.O., Ouma, E., Dohoo, I. and Thomas, L.F. 2025. Confirmation of a hyperendemic focus of porcine cysticercosis in Northern Uganda: Prevalence and risk factor analysis. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 19(8): e0013313.

Source: ILRI