The nasty parasite known as Guinea worm that has plagued humans since the days of the ancient Egyptians is on the verge of being completely eradicated, former president Jimmy Carter declared on Friday. The Carter Foundation has led the effort against Guinea worm, which could soon be remembered as the second disease to ever be wiped out by human efforts, smallpox being the first. There have been fewer than 5,000 cases of the disease in six African countries this year, and on Friday Carter announced two new grants dedicated to wiping out the final hotspots: The British government has pledged $15 million, while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will contribute $40 million.
Guinea Worm is one of the worst parasites you can get. The worms burrow inside of you, grow to almost three feet long, are incredibly painful, and finally pop out of the skin and have to be reeled out, inch by inch, over many days [The New York Times blog]. The parasites have been found in Egyptian mummies, and the official name for the infection, dracunculiasis, references an archaic-sounding pain: it’s Latin for “affliction with little dragons.” Doctors have no vaccines or medicine with which to combat the parasite; instead they rely on prevention to keep people from getting infected. However, humans are the only host for the parasite, so ending outbreaks in human populations would destroy the worm forever.
Guinea worm has been found across Africa from Mali to Ethiopia with most current cases in Sudan. Only 4,410 cases were reported worldwide during the first ten months of this year, with 80% found in Sudan [BBC News]. The Carter Center says that when the eradication campaign began in 1986 there were 3.5 million cases in 20 nations. While the enormous progress made thus far is encouraging, Carter Center official Craig Withers says the final hotspots pose a particular challenge. “It is a question of education…. Our staff are having to wade through swamps, sometimes up to their necks, to reach remote villages in Southern Sudan” [BBC News].
The disease is caused by drinking water infected with the larvae of the Guinea worm, which then grow into maturity and mate within the human body cavity. The female then burrows outward towards the skin and emerges in a painful blister; traditionally infected people run to the water to cool the burning pain, which allows the worm to release a new generation of larvae. Educating people to filter water before drinking, drilling wells for clean water and treating infected water with chemicals eliminates contagion. Filter materials have been given out, along with drinking straws with built-in filters that are worn around the neck on a string…. “Once we eliminate it from a particular water hole, it is gone forever,” Carter said [Atlanta Journal-Constitution].
Related Content:
80beats: Dime-Sized Microscope Could Be a Boon for Developing World Health
80beats: Parasitic Worms May Increase Vulnerabilty to the HIV Virus
DISCOVER: Vigil for a Doomed Virus narrates the end of the smallpox virus
Image: Louise Gubb, the Carter Center
December 8th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
So will the Sudanese military keep vast stockpiles of this worm’s larvae around for weponization? Sorry, couldn’t resist the sarcasm when you said “which could soon be remembered as the second disease to ever be wiped out by human efforts, smallpox being the first.“
December 9th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I’ve got questions on that point as well, Larian, and might put in a couple of calls to the Carter Center and the WHO to see if plans are being made to keep the parasites around in a lab somewhere. I’ll let you know if I find out anything interesting.
December 9th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
An update: I just got an email from Emily Staub, a proactive and informative press officer at the Carter Center. She reassured me: “Since there is no animal host for Dracunculus medinensis, or the Guinea worm, once the parasite’s cycle is broken in humans, the disease will be gone forever,” she wrote.
So that’s more good news. Thanks, Emily!
December 10th, 2008 at 10:04 am
the extinction of a worm species? how horrible!(kidding)
December 10th, 2008 at 11:21 am
“Forever” is an awfully long time. It might be best to remain humble and say “for now,” lest we find the need to eat our words…nature is a powerful and mysterious force.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
is there a picture of the parasite & also picture how they breed & desroy the organs. wre is there orgin & were they usaly located & how they are spread. more detail info