A market scoping study for porcine cysticercosis vaccine calls for a one-health approach to sustain the control of the disease in Uganda

Abstract

Pig health is a critical issue in modern Uganda. Not only does the country have the largest pig population in East Africa, it also has the most rapidly growing pig population in sub-Saharan Africa and the highest per capita pork consumption in Eastern Africa (FAOSTAT, 2010). Porcine cysticercosis (PC) is a disease of pigs caused by larval cysts of the human T. solium tapeworm. Pigs are infected when they eat tapeworm eggs shed in the faeces of a human tapeworm carrier. Humans are infected when they eat tissues from pigs that contain larvae (cysticerci). These larvae establish as tapeworms in the human gut and shed eggs in human faeces. However, if humans ingest tapeworm eggs in contaminated food or water, these can establish as cysts in the brain, eye or other tissues and these can have serious consequences such as epilepsy.