Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis is a neglected parasitic zoonosis with significant
economic and public health impacts. Control measures can be broadly grouped into community
health education, improvements in hygiene and sanitary conditions, proper meat handling
at household and community level, improved standards of meat inspection, pig management,
treatment of individual patients and possibly human populations, and treatment and/or
vaccination of porcine populations. This manuscript looks critically into currently
existing control options and provides suggestions on which (combination of) tools
would be most effective in the control of T. solium taeniasis/cysticercosis in sub-Saharan
Africa. Field data and disease transmission simulations suggest that implementation
of a single intervention control strategy will not lead to a satisfactory reduction
of disease morbidity or transmission. A feasible strategy to combat T. solium taeniasis/cysticercosis
would include a combination of approaches focussing on both human (health education
and treatment) and animal host (management, treatment and vaccination), which can
vary for different communities and different geographical locations. Selection of
the specific strategy depends on cost-effectiveness analyses based on solid field
data, currently unavailable, though urgently needed; as well as on health priorities
and resources of the country. A One Health approach involving medical, veterinary,
environmental and social sectors is essential for T. solium to be controlled and eventually
eliminated. Finally the success of any intervention is largely dependent on the level
of societal and political acceptance, commitment and engagement.