REVIEW article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Parasitology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1558555
This article is part of the Research TopicGlobal Perspectives on Swine Diseases: Detection, Diagnosis, and EradicationView all 3 articles
Serological diagnosis of cysticercosis in humans and pigs: Status, limitations and prospects
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Parasitology, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- 2Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- 3International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
- 4Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
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Cysticercosis is a neglected zoonosis caused by Taenia solium, which involves pigs as intermediate hosts, leading to pig cysticercosis (PCC). Humans are the only definitive hosts, harbouring the mature tapeworm in the small intestines, but they can also act as intermediate hosts upon accidental ingestion of eggs, resulting in human cysticercosis (HCC), called neurocysticercosis (NCC) when the cysts lodge in the central nervous system. Diagnosis of HCCNCC in humans is based on imaging technologies and serology. The gold standard method for PCC diagnosis is the full carcass dissection and recovery of cysts. However, tongue palpation and meat inspection are the most widely used methods in endemic countries. These methods are specific at the genus level but cannot distinguish mixed infection from other taeniids and are not sufficiently sensitive in pigs with low infection. Available serological tests for human and pig infection are based on parasite-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG). Still, most tests are either cross-reactive with other taeniids or not sensitive enough for single or inactive cysts, particularly for NCC patients. Here, we compare various serological techniques for PCC and NCC published since 2000 and discuss the benefit of IgE-based serodiagnosis as a potential alternative to traditional serology. Considering the diagnostic limitations described above and the need to identify endemic areas to prevent transmission between humans and pigs and monitor control efforts, the development of more sensitive and specific serological tests, followed by a field-applicable point-of-care (POC) test for cysticercosis, is of the utmost importance.
Keywords: Cysticercosis, human, pig, Taenia solium, Serological tests, IgE
Received: 10 Jan 2025; Accepted: 11 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hossain, Shabir, Ngwili, Thomas and Falcone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Franco Harald Falcone, Institute of Parasitology, University of Giessen, Giessen, NG7 2RD, Germany
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