In 2018, Guinea worm disease was found in Angola, a country not known to have cases in the past.Īs a result, in 2019 the World Health Organization pushed back its expected eradication date for the disease a full decade from 2020 to 2030. What's more, as the number of cases has dwindled, new challenges have emerged. This long-overlooked reservoir of the worms was a setback for the global eradication program and showed that killing the last guinea worm was going to be harder than previously thought. Then a few years ago, scientists discovered that the parasite was spreading among stray dogs in Chad – and that baboons in Ethiopia were also carrying the parasite. We started out with 3.6 million cases."Īnd it did look as if the last Guinea worm was going to die before the 39th U.S. "I'd like for the last Guinea worm to die before I do. "I would like to see Guinea worm completely eradicated before I die," Carter said at a press conference in 2015. It can take a toll for weeks or months, and sometimes permanently, leaving the individual unable to support a family.Īnd if someone with Guinea worm has contact with water – perhaps to cool the burning pain caused by the worm's emergence – the worm will release tens of thousands of baby worms, contaminating the whole body of water. The female worms, which can be up to 3 feet long once they mature, cause incredibly painful, open blisters usually on the infected person's lower legs and feet – through which the worms emerge. Guinea worms are spread through contaminated drinking water and eating undercooked fish. and a nasty little bug called Guinea worm disease. Diseases like lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, river blindness, schistosomiasis. But after he left office he launched a war against "neglected" diseases - diseases in far-off lands that most Americans will never suffer from and may not have even heard of. Jimmy Carter took great pride in pointing out that the United States didn't start any new wars during his term as president. On a 2007 visit to Savelugu Hospital in Ghana, President Jimmy Carter asks a group of children if they've had Guinea worm.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |