Target product profiles for diagnostic tests for Taenia solium taeniasis in humans, and cysticercosis in humans and pigs

Overview

This document presents target product profiles (TPPs) for diagnostic tests for Taenia solium taeniasis in humans and cysticercosis in humans and pigs. It aims to stimulate investment and innovation in diagnostics that support neurocysticercosis (NCC) case management and strengthen T. solium control programmes. The TPPs identify diagnostic gaps, priority needs, use cases and desired test characteristics through platform-agnostic recommendations.

Building on TPPs first published in 2017, the profiles define requirements for tests detecting T. solium-specific analytes to identify areas with at least 0.5% taeniasis prevalence or 2% porcine cysticercosis prevalence, supporting transmission mapping and programme monitoring. They also describe a point-of-care test for detecting viable T. solium cysts in the central nervous system at the vesicular and early colloidal stages. Such a test would identify symptomatic individuals in settings without imaging who require referral, support post-treatment follow-up, and identify people who may need exclusion from preventive chemotherapy with praziquantel or other drugs with systemic effects on cysts.