DAKAR, Senegal (AP) – Just over two dozen people in the world are infected with the Guinea worm, according to a new report that states that community programs are close to eradicating the disease in which a one-meter worm is length slowly emerges from a blister on a skin of the person.
The United States-based Carter Center, which leads the eradication campaign, says only 27 cases were reported in 2020 in six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, or half the number of cases in 2019. The center said animal infections also showed a 20% decline.
Case reduction is welcome in the healthcare community as the coronavirus pandemic increases globally. Despite cuts in many programs around the world, The Carter Center said its community program to eradicate Guinea worm remains up to 95% operational.
“We are reporting a 50% reduction in human cases, for just 27 people in the world last year with the Guinea worm. And this is compared to 1986 when there were 3.5 million people reporting Guinea worm disease annually in about 21 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in the Middle East and Asia, ”Adam Weiss, director of The Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program, he told the Associated Press.
According to provisional figures, Chad had about 12 cases in 2020, followed by Ethiopia with 11. Angola, Cameroon, Mali and South Sudan had one case each.
Weiss said the COVID-19 pandemic complicated logistics and supply chains, reduced the capacity of research activities and hindered the movement of employees, but cited longstanding work and community involvement in combating Guinea worm to keep operations going in the past year.
“We are very fortunate to be a community program and therefore the volunteers remained active throughout the pandemic,” he said.
Unlike other diseases that are controlled by medicines or vaccines, the Guinea worm can be eradicated by training people to filter and drink clean water. The future challenges will be education, surveillance and continuous access to drinking water.
Contracted by drinking infected water, Guinea worm disease affects some of the most vulnerable people in the world. The 3-foot-long worm is asymptomatic and incubates in people for up to a year before emerging painfully, often through extremely sensitive parts of the body.
The Guinea worm is about to be the second human disease to be eradicated after smallpox, according to the Carter Center. The World Health Organization warns that the remaining cases may be the most difficult to control, as they usually occur in remote and often inaccessible areas.
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Sanz reported from Atlanta.