Nigeria has halted transmission of Guinea worm disease, bringing closer the moment when a disease is eradicated from the planet for just the second time in history. Fight against Guinea Worm seems a huge success.
Former US President Jimmy Carter said on Thursday that just 1.800 cases of the painful disease remain, according to The World Bank..
94 percent of those are in South Sudan, which last month voted to secede from Sudan in the aftermath of a long civil war.
Scattered cases have also been found in eastern Mali and western Ethiopia, while Ghana is likely to announce soon that that it has halted transmission entirely.
It is a dramatic drop from the 3,5 million cases in 20 nations that were reported when the Atlanta-based Carter Center’s eradication program began in 1986.
DRIKKEVAND ER KILDEN
Guinea worm disease occurs when people drink water contaminated with (inficeret med) worm larvae.
Over a year, the worm can grow to the size of a 3-foot (ca. 1 meter) long spaghetti noodle.
Then they very slowly emerge through the skin, often causing searing, debilitating pain for months.
The disease, however, is usually not fatal. There is no vaccine or medicine for the parasite.
Infection is prevented by filtering water and educating people how to avoid the disease.
ADVARSEL
Jimmy Carter warned that regional instability can delay efforts to eradicate the disease.
He said violence could hamper efforts by the more than 10.000 volunteers fighting the disease.
Carter said his efforts to stamp out diseases taught him to have confidence in local residents to lead the fight.
Se billeder af ormen på
http://www.google.dk/images?hl=da&q=Guinea+worm&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=z81eTf_NF4nPhAek1rCqDQ&ved=0CDwQsAQ&biw=1355&bih=861
