This is down from 27 cases in 2020, and dramatically less than the estimated 3.5 million annual cases in 20 countries in 1986 – the year the World Health Assembly called for dracunculiasis eradication. Dracunculiasis remains endemic in just four countries: Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan.Dracunculiasis is a disease of extreme poverty, occurring in places where there is poor access to clean drinking water. Cases tend to be split roughly equally between males and females, and can occur in all age groups. Within a given place, dracunculiasis risk is linked to occupation; people who farm or fetch drinking water are most likely to be infected.Cases of dracunculiasis have a seasonal cycle, though the timing varies by location. Along the Sahara deserts southern edge, cases peak during the mid-year rainy season (May–October) when stagnant water sources are more abundant. Along the Gulf of Guinea, cases are more common during the dry season (October–March) when flowing water sources dry up. History
Dracunculiasis has been with humans for at least 3,000 years, as the remnants of a guinea worm infection have been found in the mummy of a girl entombed in Egypt around 1,000 BCE. Diseases consistent with the effects of dracunculiasis are referenced by writers throughout antiquity. The disease of "fiery serpents" that plagues the Hebrews in the Old Testament (around 1250 BCE) is often attributed to dracunculiasis.
Nicholas D. Kristof from the New York Times follows a young Sudanese boy with a Guinea Worm parasite infection who is quarantined for treatment as part of the Carter program
Tropical Medicine Central Resource: "Guinea Worm Infection (Dracunculiasis)"
World Health Organization on Dracunculiasis