In response to growing concern about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s physical fitness, he assured the voting public that his cognitive issues are in the past. “Questioning Mr. Kennedy’s health is a hilarious suggestion, given his competition,” a May 2024 statement from his campaign contended, seemingly shading rivals Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the process (via the BBC). “The issue was resolved more than 10 years ago, and he is in robust physical and mental health.” As for how Kennedy potentially contracted the parasite? Apparently, the presidential hopeful likely picked it up while visiting either Africa, South America, or Asia. Several scientists have challenged Kennedy’s claim that the worm actually ate his brain, though, clarifying that the symptoms associated with brain parasites, known formally as neurocysticercosis, can sometimes be mistaken for mercury poisoning, which often results from a fish-dense diet.
If the controversial politician really did have a worm in his brain, it was probably caused by eating pork. “Pigs get infected with a tapeworm,” Shira Shafir, an epidemiologist and an associate adjunct professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, confirmed to Scientific American. “When it is in the pig, it penetrates the intestinal wall and goes to the musculature […] So humans, if they consume uncooked or undercooked infected pork, can get infected with the intestinal form of the tapeworm.” When humans aren’t practicing proper hygiene, they can easily ingest the eggs through fecal matter, which may eventually end up in the brain.
