8/12/2019 Hunting the 'fiery serpent': The quest to wipe out Guinea worm

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8/12/2019 Hunting the 'fiery serpent': The quest to wipe out Guinea worm

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It's something a picture could never prepare you for, and loser or not, this agonizing illness was

infecting millions of people just 30 years ago. But thankfully it's a disease that's next on the cards for

global eradication.

Ruiz-Tiben is determined to find these cases and remove the disease from our planet once and for

all. "We'll be standing until the last worm goes," he concludes.

The Carter Center is led by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who wanted to use his status to

broker peace and fight disease worldwide. Since 1982 the center has operated with a mandate to

resolve political conflict and combat disease. Guinea worm factors in both.

There is no vaccine -- beating the disease involves education and improved sanitation

Eradicating Guinea worm

The final cases

The extreme rural nature of Guinea worm means those leading the programs cannot be in the field

enough to monitor the disease closely. A large proportion of the control efforts are therefore run by

local volunteers and community teams who act as surveillance units, keep an ear out in their local

village to see who may be infected and supply people with filters at water collection points.

Sandy. Anglo-American rifle competition between the Queen's Westminster Volunteers and the

Seventh Regiment National Guard of New York ... at Creedmoor rifle range ... Cairncross, London

School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The cases left are either unreachable, or forgotten.

A crucial aspect of disease control is teaching locals to filter their water with basic nylon filters and

to avoid standing in water when infected. People are encouraged to strain water through nylon

filters, or even clothing material, to remove the worm's larvae before they drink it. The shallow

nature of the muddy watering holes people use means they frequently stand in them when collecting

water.

There is no treatment or vaccine.

"There is no treatment or vaccine. Its eradication involves simple interventions such as clean water

and sanitation and the use of community health teams," explains Cairncross, a water engineer bybackground and now professor of environmental health.

Sandy Cairncross, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Burning pain

Eradicating Guinea worm

Eradicating Guinea worm

Read: 3-D printed arm for boy maimed by bomb

Guinea worm disease once infected millions -- now it's almost eradicated

8/12/2019 Hunting the 'fiery serpent': The quest to wipe out Guinea worm

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In the fight to educate, the real progress has been made using local villagers. The program

pioneered the role of the "community health worker," who are now commonplace for a variety of

global health programs.

Read: From toilet to tap -- drinking recycled waste water

Eradicating Guinea worm

It's rarely fatal but patients often remain sick for several months, meaning they can't work, which

impacts their income and the local economy. The only "treatment" is the extraction of the worm from

a patient's leg, which is then bandaged to enable recovery.

Read: Carpenter cuts off his fingers, makes new ones

Guinea worm, sometimes known as the "fiery serpent," is not on the radar of most Western

governments, especially with so few cases remaining worldwide causing the "cost per case" to

increase dramatically.

Vital Signs is a monthly program bringing viewers health stories from around the world.

Eradicating Guinea worm

(CNN) -- "It's such a loser of a disease that some countries eradicated it without even knowing they'd

had it. It can naturally disappear."

Eradicating Guinea worm

The intended date to reach eradication was 2015. "Previous targets were 1995, then 2000, now whoknows?" explains Cairncross. "We need local government backing, funding and commitment."

People become infected with Guinea worm after drinking water contaminated with the larvae of the

parasitic worm Dracunculus medinensis, typically in remote rural areas. The larvae then grow in the

host into adult worms over the course of one year, at which point females burst out of their host's

foot or leg to lay eggs. The eggs need to be laid in water and as people stand in their shallow dug-out

wells to collect their daily water supply, or to relieve the terrible burning of the residing worm, the

worm seizes the opportunity and contaminates the village water supply in the process.