Efforts to eradicate Guinea worm are entering the ‘most difficult’ phase

ATLANTA – The Carter Center said Tuesday that only 13 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide last year.

After decades of progress, the director of the eradication program warned that the final stages of the global effort to eradicate the parasitic disease will be “the most difficult”.

The Atlanta-based center, founded by former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Eleanor Rosalynn Carter, said the remaining infections were in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Six human cases have been reported in Chad, five in South Sudan, one in Ethiopia and one in the Central African Republic, which are still under investigation.

That’s a significant decrease since the global eradication effort began in 1986, when former President Carter infected 3.5 million people.

The preliminary figures should be confirmed in the coming months.

“We are really in the midst of this last mile and we are learning firsthand that it will be a very long and arduous last mile,” Adam Weiss, director of the Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program, told The Associated Press. “Not so much that it’s going to take longer than the next seven years — five to seven years — but just knowing it’s going to be a slow road to get to zero.”

Guinea worm affects some of the world’s most vulnerable people and can be prevented by training people to filter and drink clean water.

People who drink unclean water can ingest parasites that can grow up to 1 meter in length. The worm incubates in humans for up to a year before painfully exiting, often through the feet or other sensitive parts of the body.

According to Weiss, the populations where Guinea worm still exists are vulnerable to local insecurity, including conflict, which can prevent staff and volunteers from going door-to-door to conduct interventions or offer support.

“As we take our foot off the gas to try to accelerate zero and support these communities, there’s no question you’re going to see a surge in Guinea worm,” Weiss said. “We continue to make progress, even if it’s not as fast as we all would like, but that progress continues.”

Guinea worm could be the second human disease to be eradicated after smallpox, according to The Carter Center.

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Follow Alex Sanz on Twitter at @AlexSanz.