How common is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ‘brain worm’ infection?

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An incident of “brain worm” more than a decade ago has thrust the U.S. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into the spotlight.

The bizarre story came to light this month after the New York Times reported on a 12-year-old deposition, where Kennedy reportedly stated that an irregularity detected on his brain scan “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.”

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Kennedy, who could pick up eight per cent of voters in the November election according to some polls, has since recovered and is in “robust physical and mental health,” spokeswoman Stefanie Spear told Reuters.

The brain worm was reportedly the result of a parasite that Kennedy picked up while working as an environmental advocate across Africa, South America and Asia.

For his part, Kennedy seems to have taken the revelation in stride, posting to X that he could “eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate.”

In fact, he’s confident he could beat them “even with a six-worm handicap.”

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Here’s what to know about the condition.

What is brain worm?

While the exact type of parasite that Kennedy contracted hasn’t been revealed, the Washington Post reports the description is consistent with Taenia solium, a pork tapeworm.

The worm is linked to neurocysticercosis, a brain infection that can cause seizures, headaches, blindness, blurred vision, dizziness, psychosis, memory loss and, in some cases, death.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers neurocysticercosis a “Neglected Parasitic Infection” that is often poorly understood by health care providers.

Unlike the type of worm one might find in a garden, parasitic brain worms are usually larvae, enclosed in cysts that form around them, Dr. Michael Wilson, a neurology professor at the University of California, told Rolling Stone.

Wilson added that the larvae usually do not travel through or eat parts of the brain.

“For reasons we don’t understand, oftentimes, the worm will just kind of live in its cyst for a number of years and not cause any symptoms,” Wilson said. “No seizures, nothing. And then finally, the immune system will recognize that it’s there, and then it’ll attack it and kill it.”

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How do you become infected?

Neurocysticercosis is contracted by swallowing microscopic eggs passed in the feces of a person who has an intestinal pork tapeworm, usually through food or water.

The CDC explains that a person can get a tapeworm infection in the intestines by eating undercooked, infected pork and pass the tapeworm eggs in their feces. If they do not wash their hands properly, they can then contaminate food or surfaces, passing along the condition.

Once ingested, the eggs hatch and become larvae that find their way to the brain.

How common is it?

It’s relatively rare in North America, and hospitalizes roughly 1,000 to 2,000 people every year in the U.S.

Per CDC data, cases are most frequently reported in New York, California, Texas, Oregon and Illinois. It’s more prevalent in the regions Kennedy was working in, including Latin America.

Neurocysticercosis is a preventable disease; good hand washing practices, along with treating people infected with intestinal tapeworms, can reduce the spread. That said, it is a leading cause of adult onset epilepsy worldwide, and the CDC says little is being done to “monitor, prevent or identify and treat neurocysticercosis.”

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What are the treatments?

While neurocysticercosis is preventable, it can be costly to diagnose and treat.

In one study, which examined nearly 4,000 hospitalizations over more than 10 years in California, the average hospital charge was US$37,000.

Wilson told Rolling Stone there are also anti-parasitic oral medications that can be effective, and in some instances the condition may resolve on its own. In other instances, surgical intervention may be required, particularly if the cyst in the brain is blocking the flow of spinal fluid.

In Kennedy’s case, he told the Times he did not require any medical treatment as the worm had died. While he also suffered from mental fog and memory loss, that could be tied to mercury poisoning after eating copious amounts of tuna sandwiches. Kennedy told the Times his mercury levels were 10 times the levels deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency around the time of the deposition.

“I loved tuna fish sandwiches,” he said. “I ate them all the time.” Kennedy added that those conditions also resolved around the time the brain worm was diagnosed.

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