Guinea worm disease, also called dracunculiasis << druh kuhn kyuh LY uh suhs >>, is a painful condition in human beings caused by infection with parasitic worms. The infection spreads through contaminated drinking water. Before health efforts undertaken in the 1980’s, the disease afflicted millions of people throughout parts of Africa and Asia. Today, Guinea worm disease remains only in remote parts of sub-Saharan Africa—that is, the part of Africa that lies south of the Sahara.
Guinea worm disease is caused by a threadlike worm called Dracunculus medinensis. Microscopic animals called copepods (water fleas) can become infected with the worm’s larvae (young). People get infected by drinking water, usually from ponds, containing infected copepods. Once ingested (taken in), the larvae burrow through the intestine and into the body. There, they mature and grow into thin worms up to 3 feet (1 meter) in length. People infected with the larvae usually do not have any symptoms and are often unaware of the infection.
After about a year, the adult worms travel to the skin, where a blisterlike sore develops, usually in the lower limbs. The Guinea worm emerges from the skin when the blister ruptures. As worms emerge, the person may experience itching, fever, weakness, swelling, and burning sensations. When emerging Guinea worms come into contact with water, they immediately release a milky fluid that contains thousands of larvae into the water. In fresh water, the larvae are eaten by copepods, and the cycle begins again.
Guinea worms emerging from the skin cause intense and often disabling pain. People infected with the worms are often too weak to work.
No treatment or cure exists for Guinea worm disease. However, people can prevent infection by filtering drinking water to remove copepods. They can also prevent the spread of the disease by keeping people with emerging Guinea worms away from ponds, wells, streams, and other sources of drinking water. Since the mid-1980’s, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Carter Center in Atlanta, and other international organizations have waged an international campaign to eliminate Guinea worm disease.
