GUINEA WORM DISEASE

Guinea worm disease (GWD), or dracunculiasis, is a devastating disease that affects people in rural agricultural communities in 19 African countries and parts of India and, Pakistan. It is estimated that there are

• 5-5 million new case a year

• 120 million people at risk

The disease is linked to poverty because it is transmitted in ponds and stepwells where people must wade into their drinking water source during collection.

Transmission Cycle

GWD is caused by a roundworm about one meter long that lives under the surface of the skin. Disability results when the female worm emerges, creating a painful blister on the trunk or lower limbs. Further complication can result if the blister becomes secondarily infected.

When a Guinea worm blister "Is immersed in water, the worm releases larvae, which infect freshwater copepods, or water fleas. People become infected by drinking infected copepods in their water. The entire cycle is completed in about one year.

GWD disability prohibits walking, working and even routine household activities, and can last six months. Women infected with Guinea worm may be unable to breast-feed or take care of their children.

GWD Control

Measures to prevent GWD are community-based and inexpensive, Control methods include health education, providing safe drinking water, using filters to remove infected copepods from drinking water, boiling water or treating it with small doses of temephos, a colorless, odorless chemical that, kills copepods but is harmless to people.

People have many in misconceptions and superstitions about the cause of GWD. Health education can help correct these perceptions and promote prevention.

Treatment

There is no preventive or curative drug for GWD. Worms are traditionally wound out of the ulcer on a stick. This is tricky, painful, and takes m ore than a week to accomplish. Most cases end with a broken worm and even more complications.

Economic Impact

There are few data about the economic impact of GWD. In 1982, a World Bank economist estimated that global losses in marketable goods as a result of GWD amounted to between $300 million and $1 billion a year. A UNICEF study states that eliminating Guinea worm disease in the main rice growing belt in eastern Nigeria would double agricultural production.

GWD Eradication

Because humans are the only host for GWD and the means for control are known, considerable momentum is growing to globally eradicate the disease within the next decade. In 1991, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution setting 1995 as the target date for Guinea worm eradication.

Global Control Efforts

Donor assistance in planning and implementing national GWD control programs is coordinated through an interagency group that includes representatives from A.I.D., the World Health Organization, Global 2000, UNICEF, the Centers for Disease Control, UNDP and the Peace Corps.