Guinea worm cases fell 50% last year despite pandemic Campaigners credit community-led efforts with success Access to clean water is key, say campaigners
By Emeline Wuilbercq
ADDIS ABABA, April 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Okello Aballa Ognum regularly has to walk deep into the jungles of south-west Ethiopia to treat the water ponds that harbour a debilitating parasitic disease.
Painstakingly, he measures the water volume to determine how much chemical treatment to use against copepods, the tiny water fleas that carry the Guinea worm larvae.
If ingested by humans, the larvae can grow up to a meter long before emerging through the skin, leading to serious disability and amputation in the worst cases.
The End Is in Sight : Tackling a Neglected Tropical Disease in a Global Pandemic
Community-led efforts have helped the fight to eradicate Guinea worm disease.
By Emeline Wuilbercq
ADDIS ABABA, April 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Okello Aballa Ognum regularly has to walk deep into the jungles of southwest Ethiopia to treat the water ponds that harbor a debilitating parasitic disease.
Painstakingly, he measures the water volume to determine how much chemical treatment to use against copepods, the tiny water fleas that carry the Guinea worm larvae.
If ingested by humans, the larvae can grow up to a meter long before emerging through the skin, leading to serious disability and amputation in the worst cases.
Thomson Reuters Foundation,
Published: 29 Apr 2021 05:05 PM BdST
Updated: 29 Apr 2021 05:05 PM BdST A guinea worm emerges from the leg of a south Sudanese girl in Juba in this 2007 archive picture. REUTERS/FILE
Okello Aballa Ognum regularly has to walk deep into the jungles of south-west Ethiopia to treat the water ponds that harbour a debilitating parasitic disease. );
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Painstakingly, he measures the water volume to determine how much chemical treatment to use against copepods, the tiny water fleas that carry the Guinea worm larvae.
If ingested by humans, the larvae can grow up to a meter long before emerging through the skin, leading to serious disability and amputation in the worst cases.
Tackling a rare disease in a global pandemic The Guinea worm can grow up to a metre long before emerging through the skin, leading to serious disability 29 April 2021 - 13:02 Emeline Wuilbercq The Guinea worm under the microscope. Picture: CARTER CENTER/J HAHN
Addis Ababa Okello Aballa Ognum regularly has to walk deep into the jungles of southwest Ethiopia to treat the water ponds that harbour a debilitating parasitic disease.
Painstakingly, he measures the water volume to determine how much chemical treatment to use against copepods, the tiny water fleas that carry the Guinea worm larvae.
If ingested by humans, the larvae can grow up to a metre long before emerging through the skin, leading to serious disability and the need for amputation in the worst cases.
BugBitten
Bad news for Guinea worms
The prospect of eliminating a parasitic disease afflicting humans took a leap forward in 2020, despite restrictions caused by a global pandemic.
2 Feb 2021
Extracting a Guinea worm from the ankle by wrapping it around a stick. Credit: Public Health Image Library/1968
In the same week that the latest WHO Neglected Tropical Diseases report was published (featured in our blog last Friday), the Carter Foundation made two very encouraging announcements concerning Guinea Worm eradication.
The Guinea worm
Known as dracunculiasis, Guinea worm disease is caused by the round worm,
Dracunculus medinensis. Infection occurs when water fleas, infected with the larval stages of the worm, are accidentally ingested. Males fertilise females and then die, but females begin to grow and, after many months, migrate to the extremities of the body, particularly the feet and legs.