The 52-year-old man visited a doctor because he was having migraines every week.

Doctors treating a man’s chronic migraines in Florida discovered worm eggs living in his brain, which were causing his pain. This was reported in the American Journal of Case Reports.

How the worm eggs ended up in the man’s brain is unclear.

The doctors treating the 52-year-old man, who went to the hospital because he was having migraines weekly, were also puzzled and wondering how the worm eggs ended up in his brain.

They noticed a mass in his CT scan, initially thinking it was “congenital neuroglial cysts,” so they promptly admitted him to the hospital.

They conducted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other tests, confirming that the masses were not cysts but tapeworm larvae.

The report mentioned that the “Cysticercosis IgG Cysts” antibody test returned positive, confirming the suspicion of neurocysticercosis.

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “neurocysticercosis” is a preventable parasitic infection caused by the immature stage of the pork tapeworm. It can infect different parts of the body, including the brain.

Indeed, neurocysticercosis can result in seizures as well.

The study emphasized that cases of neurocysticercosis are uncommon unless there’s a typical exposure or travel history. In the United States, such cases were previously believed to be non-existent.

The man’s case could have public health implications because he had a habit of eating lightly cooked, non-crispy bacon for most of his life, which doctors theorized was the source of his infection.

“It can only be speculated, but given our patient’s predilection for undercooked pork and benign exposure history, we favour that his cysticercosis was transmitted via autoinfection after improper handwashing after he had contracted taeniasis himself from his eating habits.”

The CDC explained that if a person gets a tapeworm infection by consuming infected pork, they are likely to spread the infection.

“Once inside the body, the eggs hatch and become larvae that find their way to the brain. These larvae cause neurocysticercosis.”

The doctors treated the man with antiparasitic and anti-inflammatory medications and advised him to follow up with an infectious diseases clinic.