Q: Is Guinea worm disease near its end? What programs were put in place to eradicate this disease?
—John Walter, Atlanta
A: Guinea worm disease cases have declined from 3.5 million annually in 1986 to a reported 30 cases worldwide in 2017, a reduction of 99.9 percent, according to the Carter Center, which is leading the international campaign to eradicate the disease.
“Guinea worm disease is set to become the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated. It will be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated and the first disease to be eradicated without the use of a vaccine or medicine,” according to the Carter Center’s website.
Three countries — Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan — reported local Guinea worm disease cases in 2016, compared to 21 countries in Asia and Africa in 1986, according to the Carter Center and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The World Health Organization has certified 198 countries, territories and areas as free of the disease’s transmission, of as March 2016.
“Many other African countries and all of Asia are now free of GWD,” according to the CDC website.
The Guinea Worm Eradication Program, led by the Atlanta-based Carter Center, was created in 1986. The coalition includes WHO, UNICEF, the CDC and the ministries of health of endemic countries.
Q&A on the News runs Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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