Neurocysticercosis: an exotic disease presenting in Australian immigrants.

Two cases of neurocysticercosis which occurred in migrant women are reported. This disease, produced from the larval form of the pig tapeworm, Taenia solium, is not endemic in Australia. It is prevalent in Latin America, India, parts of Africa and eastern Europe and some Mediterranean areas. Where the possibility of exposure to this parasite exists, neurocysticercosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of late-onset epilepsy, hydrocephalus, focal fits, progressive dementia, and in spinal cord tumours.