Update: dracunculiasis eradication--Ghana and Nigeria, 1990.

Abstract

Dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease) is a disabling infection that each year affects an estimated 5 million persons in 17 African countries and parts of India and Pakistan. This disease is contracted only by persons who drink water contaminated by tiny copepods containing larval stages of the parasite Dracunculus medinensis. The infection can be prevented by providing safe sources of drinking water, teaching populations at risk to boil water or filter it through a fine cloth, or treating the water with temephos (Abate*). Efforts to eradicate dracunculiasis began in 1981, immediately before the start of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. This report summarizes the progress of guinea worm eradication programs (GWEPs) in Ghana and Nigeria.

• Authors: Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
• Journal: MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report (MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep) Vol. 40 Issue 15 Pg. 245-7 (Apr 19 1991) ISSN: 0149-2195 [Print] United States
• PMID: 1826338 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Dracunculiasis (epidemiology, prevention & control)
• Ghana (epidemiology)
• Humans
• Nigeria (epidemiology)