Viewpoints Taenia solium Cysticercosis: The Case of Cuba

Cysticercosis is a neglected zoonotic disease attributable to infection with the metacestode larval stage of the tapeworm Taenia solium. Humans are the sole final hosts, carrying the adult tapeworm in the intestine (taeniosis). Pigs are the main intermediate host, but humans also may accidentally get infected through the ingestion of T. solium eggs (shed in human feces) that later develop into oncospheres. When cyst formation occurs in the brain, the disease is called neurocysticercosis (NCC), which is increasingly recognized as the leading cause of epilepsy in large parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America [1]. Cysticercosis is a poverty-associated disease, and its burden is known to be substantial in the Latin American conti-nent [2–4]. On the other hand, based on limited numbers and often outdated re-ports, cysticercosis does not seem to be a common disease in the Caribbean [5], with the exception of Haiti, where several case reports have been published in the past decades [6,7]. Also, a recently con-ducted cross-sectional serological survey in Port-au-Prince revealed prevalences of cysticercal antibodies of 2.8 % (6/216) in healthy adults [8], which is comparable to those found in some Latin American and African countries. Here, we compiled the available information on cysticercosis/ taeniosis in Cuba and supplemented this with data from a recently conducted survey on NCC in patients with epilepsy in order to evaluate the importance of Taenia solium cysticercosis in the country. A literature search was conducted in th