Final answer:
Infection with Taenia solium is considered one of the neglected parasitic infections in the United States because it's not well-studied or prioritized, despite causing significant health issues like neurocysticercosis, which can lead to epilepsy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Infection with Taenia solium, leading to taeniasis and cysticercosis, is one of the five neglected parasitic infections in the United States mainly because it is not adequately studied or given enough attention. Cysticercosis becomes a significant health concern when T. solium larvae invade the central nervous system, causing neurocysticercosis, which is the leading cause of adult-onset epilepsy in the developing world. Despite this, it remains relatively underdiagnosed and underreported in the United States, resulting in it being classified as one of the neglected parasitic infections by the CDC.
Although consuming undercooked meat is a common way for tapeworm infections to occur, with T. solium it is specifically through ingestion of eggs via the fecal-oral route, often due to fecal contamination of food or other surfaces. When the larvae form cysts in muscle or brain tissue, cysticercosis develops, which can lead to gastrointestinal symptoms or more severe conditions such as ophthalmic cysticercosis or neurocysticercosis.