5. Location
As we mentioned above, one of the risk factors for getting tapeworms is dependent on location. Eating in a foreign country or dining on imported fish is one thing, but actually living in a high-risk location will greatly increase the odds of getting tapeworm contamination at one or more points of your life.
For example, if you take the pork tapeworm — which is officially named taenia solium — you’ll see that it is more common in Southeast Asia, Africa, China, and Latin America due to the fact that these areas of the globe have more wild pigs in comparison to Western countries in the Northern hemisphere such as the United States, United Kingdom, or even desert nations such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.
If you live in one of these high-risk areas, you should take extra precautions to ensure that you don’t catch tapeworm contamination. Remember, prevention is the best cure.