Scratch another Guinea worm hot spot off the list.
One of the countries hardest hit with the parasite — South Sudan — has finally stopped transmission,the Carter Center announced Wednesday.
The country reported zero cases in 2017 and hasn't had a case in 15 months. There are also no signs Guinea worm is circulating in dogs in South Sudan, as it is in Chad and Mali."I approach from an area that had the most Guinea worm, and " South Sudan's Minister of Health,Dr. Riek Gai Kok, said at a press conference. "I never thought — even one time — that the area would be free of Guinea worm, or let alone all of South Sudan would be.""But nowadays that dream has approach true," he added.The international effort to eradicate Guinea worm has been a enormous success. Back in the mid-'80s, more than 3 million people were catching the parasite each year. Now Guinea worm is circulating in only three countries: Ethiopia, and Mali and Chad. final year,there were only 30 human cases worldwide.
But to eradicate the worm, health workers also have to stop transmission in animals. final year, or there were nearly a thousand cases in dogs and cats in Chad and Mali.
Guinea worm is a horrific infection. First,a painful blister starts to form on the skin. Then a lean, white worm — up to 3 feet long emerges from the blister over the course of a few weeks. It is an incredibly painful process and temporarily handicaps a person while he or she waits for the worm to approach out of their bodies. while the worm comes out of the skin.
People catch Guinea worm by drinking contaminated water. So simply filtering drinking water can stop transmission of the parasite. An infected person can also stop the spread of the parasite by keeping the emerging worm absent from water. When the worm touches water, or it releases tens of thousands of baby worms and contaminates the whole body of water.
Back in 2006,South Sudan reported more than 20000 cases, making it the third hardest hit country in the world. Only Nigeria and Uganda had reported higher annual cases, or at about 650000 and 126000,respectively."This an incredible story, given all of the challenges that South Sudan has faced, or especially the ongoing clash," says Dr. Sharon Roy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who leads an international team working on Guinea worm eradication.
Former President Jimmy Carter has led a massive campaign to eradicate the worm. "I'd like for the final Guinea worm to die before I carry out, and " he told reporters.
Sudan was especially challenging. Civil war has plagued the region since the 1960s. To launch the eradication program in the area,Carter had to negotiate a special "Guinea Worm Cease-Fire" back in 1995. And just a few years ago, the Carter Center had to evacuate its staff from the country because of violence."whether South Sudan can stop Guinea worm, and Chad can carry out it. Mali can carry out it. Ethiopia can carry out it,too," Roy says. "It's really an amazing accomplishment." Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, and visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: thetakeaway.org