Table of Contents
Where is Guinea worm found?
When The Carter Center began to provide technical and financial assistance to national eradication programs in 1986, Guinea worm disease was found in 20 countries in Africa and Asia. Today the disease remains in six countries, all in Africa: Sudan, Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Niger.
Are guinea worms in the US?
The North American guinea worms are nematodes found in numerous furbearing species in the U.S. and Canada. Two species of worms, Dracunculus insignis and D. lutrae, are recognized under this common name. The slender worms reside in the subcutaneous spaces of the legs, resulting in ulcerations in these affected areas.
Is Guinea worm painful?
Pain may continue for months after the worm has been removed. Guinea worm disease has been known since ancient times….
| Dracunculiasis | |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Infectious disease |
| Symptoms | Painful blister that a white worm crawls out of |
| Usual onset | One year after exposure |
| Causes | Guinea worm-infected water fleas |
How do guinea worms live?
These small crustaceans (known as copepods or water fleas) live in stagnant water and eat the Guinea worm larvae. Inside, the larvae go through changes, and after two weeks, they are ready to be infective.
Where is Guinea worm endemic?
Dracunculiasis was endemic in 20 countries in the mid-1980s. The total of 27 cases in 2020 were reported from four countries: Angola (1 case), Chad (12 cases), Ethiopia (11 cases), Mali (1 case), South Sudan (1 case) and Cameroon (1 case, likely imported from Chad).
Are guinea worms extinct?
The World Health Assembly endorsed the plan in 1986, making Guinea worm only the second human disease after smallpox to be officially targeted for extinction.
Are there worms that look like hair?
Horsehair worms, part of the taxonomic phylum Nematomorpha, are parasitic worms that resemble long thin strands of hair (hence their nickname). The worms have largely featureless bodies because they’re essentially a single “gonad,” as Hanelt puts it.
Will Guinea worm be eradicated?
Unfortunately, there is no medicine to cure Guinea worm disease nor a vaccine to prevent it, and humans do not develop immunity to the disease. However, disease transmission can be prevented. Guinea worm disease is on track to become the second human disease, and the first parasitic disease, to be eradicated.