DAKAR, Senegal (AP) – Just over two dozen people in the world are infected with Guinea worm, according to a new report that community programs are on the verge of eradicating the disease in which a meter-long worm comes out slowly from a person’s skin bottle.
The U.S.-based Carter Center, which leads the eradication campaign, says only 27 cases were reported in 2020 in six sub-Saharan African countries, or half the number of cases in 2019. The center went say that infections in animals also showed a 20% decline.
The reduction in cases is welcome in the healthcare community as the coronavirus pandemic increases globally. Despite cuts to many programs around the world, The Carter Center said its community-based program to eradicate the Guinea worm continued to run up to 95%.
“We are reporting a 50% reduction in human cases, to just 27 people in the world last year who had Guinea worms. And that compares 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, “said Adam Weiss, director of the Guinea Worm at the Carter Center Eradication Program say 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 each had one case.
Weiss said the COVID-19 pandemic complicated logistics and supply chains, reduced skills for research activities and hindered staff relocation, but cited long-standing work and the involvement of the community in the Guinea worm fight to maintain operations last year.
“We are fortunate that this is a community-based program and therefore volunteers have remained active throughout the pandemic,” he said.
Unlike other diseases controlled by drugs or vaccines, the Guinea worm can be eradicated by training people to filter and drink clean water. The challenges of the future will be education, monitoring and continued access to safe drinking water.
Contracted by consuming 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 appearing painfully, often through extremely sensitive body parts.
According to The Carter Center, the Guinea worm is the second human disease to be eradicated after smallpox. The World Health Organization warns that other cases may be the most difficult to control, as they often occur in remote and often inaccessible areas.
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Sanz reported from Atlanta.