Evaluation of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication: A Review of Past Deliberations.

The International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) was formed at The Carter Center in 1988. Its primary purpose is to review activities and provide recommendations related to programs focused on eradication. The ITFDE also considers opportunities for disease elimination and improved control.

Slaying the Serpent: A Research Agenda to Expand Intervention Development and Accelerate Guinea Worm Eradication Efforts.

Dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea worm disease, is targeted to become the second human disease and first parasitic infection to be eradicated. The global Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP), through community-based interventions, reduced the burden of disease from an estimated 3.5 million cases per year in 1986 to only 13 human cases in 2022.

Predicting the Environmental Suitability and Identifying Climate and Sociodemographic Correlates of Guinea Worm (Dracunculus medinensis) in Chad.

A comprehensive understanding of the spatial distribution and correlates of infection are key for the planning of disease control programs and assessing the feasibility of elimination and/or eradication. In this work, we used species distribution modeling to predict the environmental suitability of the Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis) and identify important climatic and sociodemographic risk factors. Using Guinea worm surveillance data collected by the Chad Guinea Worm Eradication Program (CGWEP) from 2010 to 2022 in combination with remotely sensed climate and sociodemographic correlates of infection within an ensemble machine learning framework, we mapped the environmental suitability of Guinea worm infection in Chad.

Progress Toward Eradication of Dracunculiasis - Worldwide, January 2022-June 2023.

The effort to eradicate Dracunculus medinensis, the etiologic agent of dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease, commenced at CDC in 1980. In 1986, with an estimated 3.5 million cases worldwide in 20 African and Asian countries, the World Health Assembly called for dracunculiasis elimination.

Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis - Worldwide, January 2021-June 2022.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis, is acquired by drinking water containing small crustacean copepods (water fleas) infected with D. medinensis larvae. Recent evidence suggests that the parasite also appears to be transmitted by eating fish or other aquatic animals.

Dracunculiasis Eradication: End-Stage Challenges.

This report summarizes the status of the global Dracunculiasis Eradication Program as of the end of 2021. Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) has been eliminated from 17 of 21 countries where it was endemic in 1986, when an estimated 3.5 million cases occurred worldwide.

Epidemiological and molecular investigations of a point-source outbreak of Dracunculus medinensis infecting humans and dogs in Chad: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Dracunculiasis (also known as Guinea worm disease), caused by the Dracunculus medinensis nematode, is progressing towards eradication, with a reduction in cases from 3·5 million cases in the mid-1980s to only 54 human cases at the end of 2019. Most cases now occur in Chad. On April 19, 2019, a 19-year-old woman presented with D medinensis in an area within the Salamat region of Chad, where the disease had not been previously reported.

Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis, January 2020-June 2021.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis, is traditionally acquired by drinking water containing copepods (water fleas) infected with D. medinensis larvae, but in recent years also appears increasingly to be transmitted by eating fish or other aquatic animals. The worm typically emerges through the skin on a lower limb of the host 1 year after infection, causing pain and disability (1).

Surveillance of Human Guinea Worm in Chad, 2010-2018.

The total number of Guinea worm cases has been reduced by 99.9% since the mid-1980s when the eradication campaign began. Today, the greatest number of cases is reported from Chad.

Correlates of Variation in Guinea Worm Burden among Infected Domestic Dogs.

The Guinea Worm Eradication Program has been extraordinarily successful-in 2019, there were 53 human cases reported, down from the estimated 3.5 million in 1986. Yet the occurrence of Guinea worm in dogs is a challenge to eradication efforts, and underlying questions about transmission dynamics remain.

Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis, January 2019-June 2020.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis and is acquired by drinking water containing copepods (water fleas) infected with D. medinensis larvae. The worm typically emerges through the skin on a lower limb approximately 1 year after infection, resulting in pain and disability (1).

Guinea worm in domestic dogs in Chad: A description and analysis of surveillance data.

After a ten-year absence of reported Guinea worm disease in Chad, human cases were rediscovered in 2010, and canine cases were first recorded in 2012. In response, active surveillance for Guinea worm in both humans and animals was re-initiated in 2012. As of 2018, the Chad Guinea Worm Eradication Program (CGWEP) maintains an extensive surveillance system that operates in 1,895 villages, and collects information about worms, hosts (animals and humans), and animal owners.

Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis - January 2018-June 2019.

Dracunculiasis (also known as Guinea worm disease) is caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis and is acquired by drinking water containing copepods (water fleas) infected with D. medinensis larvae. The worm typically emerges through the skin on a lower limb approximately 1 year after infection, resulting in pain and disability (1).

Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis - January 2017-June 2018.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis, is acquired by drinking water containing copepods (water fleas) infected with its larvae. The worm typically emerges through the skin on a lower limb approximately 1 year after infection, causing pain and disability (1). The worldwide eradication campaign began at CDC in 1980.

Dracunculiasis Eradication: Are We There Yet?

This report summarizes the status of the global Dracunculiasis Eradication Program as of the end of 2017. Dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease) has been eliminated from 19 of 21 countries where it was endemic in 1986, when an estimated 3.5 million cases occurred worldwide.

What It Means to Be Guinea Worm Free: An Insider's Account from Ghana's Northern Region.

Despite several periods of stagnating guinea worm disease (GWD) incidence in Ghana during its national eradication campaign in the 1990s and early 2000s, the last reported case of GWD was in May 2010. In July 2011, Ghana celebrated the interruption of guinea worm (GW) transmission. Although it has been established that GWD causes disability, pain, and socioeconomic hardship, there is a dearth of population-based evidence collected in post-GW-endemic countries to document the value attributed to GWD eradication by residents in formerly endemic communities.

Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis, January 2016-June 2017.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. Approximately 1 year after a person acquires infection from contaminated drinking water, the worm emerges through the skin, usually on a lower limb (1). Pain and secondary bacterial infection can cause temporary or permanent disability that disrupts work and schooling.

Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis -January 2015-June 2016.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. Approximately 1 year after a person acquires infection from drinking contaminated water, the worm emerges through the skin, usually on the leg. Pain and secondary bacterial infection can cause temporary or permanent disability that disrupts work and schooling.

Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis, January 2014-June 2015.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. Approximately 1 year after a person acquires infection from contaminated drinking water, the worm emerges through the skin, usually on the lower limb. Pain and secondary bacterial infection can cause temporary or permanent disability that disrupts work and schooling.

Progress toward global eradication of dracunculiasis--January 2013-June 2014.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. Approximately 1 year after a person acquires infection from contaminated drinking water, the worm will emerge through the skin, usually on the lower limb. Pain and secondary bacterial infection can cause temporary or permanent disability that disrupts work and schooling.