The Daily Populous Sunday May 24th, 2026 night edition
Authored by cidrap.umn.edu and submitted by Not_so_ghetto

Only 10 human cases of Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) were reported worldwide in 2025, the fewest ever recorded, bringing the parasitic disease closer than ever to eradication, according to a new statement from the Carter Center.

Two of the 10 provisional human Guinea worm cases in 2025 were detected in South Sudan and four each in Chad and Ethiopia.

“President Carter always said he wanted to outlast the last Guinea worm. While he didn’t quite get his wish, he and Mrs. Carter would be proud to know there were only 10 human cases reported in 2025. And they would remind us that the work continues until we reach zero,” said Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander.

200 countries declared free form Guinea worm

Guinea worm will be the second human infectious disease eradicated after smallpox. Cases have declined sharply since 1986, when the Carter Center took over leadership on eradicating the disease, which caused 3.5 million human cases in Africa that year. In 2024, there were 15 cases.

Infection is caused by drinking contaminated water. One year later, the parasite causes patients to develop a painful, itching blister out of which emerges the worm. To relieve itching, patients often submerge their blister in water, which further spreads the disease. Eradication efforts have relied not on treatment or vaccine, but rather behavioral and educational interventions.

To date, the World Health Organization has certified 200 countries free of Guinea worm. Only six countries have not been certified.

Traxad on May 23rd, 2026 at 17:59 UTC »

Please keep this post away from RFK JR

Traditional-Meat-549 on May 23rd, 2026 at 17:17 UTC »

Thank you, James Earl Carter

Not_so_ghetto on May 23rd, 2026 at 17:12 UTC »

TLDR: the human guinea worm is almost eradiated, this used to impact millions causiung lots of economic and human harm, however jimmy carter helped get ride of it.

Video summary:

if you don’t like reading I made an 8 min video that goes over all the info in this post, plus some more details if you don’t want to read.

eradication of guinea worm 8 min video (warning this video is very nerdy and info dense so if you don't like biology you won't like it)

What is Guinea worm

Human guinea worm is a large nematode parasitic infection that in on the edge of eradication. This parasites used to be found in 21 countries (Africa and middle east, and asia) and before eradication efforts began is was estimated to impact ~3.6 million people annually as of 1986. This parasite infects people when they accidentally consume infected copepods,(there are a few other less important routes) while drinking water that has been contaminated with the larvae of this parasite. Once ingested that parasite will mate in a person’s gut, then go to reside under someone’s skin. There it will take 10-14 months growing, pretty much 100% asymptomatic. Once mature, the parasite will form a large blister (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/4951113771\_b76622322c\_bdracunculose.jpg) that is very painful. One of the only ways to get relief is to soak ones foot, which then goes on to rupture the blister which allows the parasite to release its larvae into the water allowing it to complete its lifecycle.

Once the blister has popped, infected people will need to remove the worm, which is accomplished by winding it around a small stick, this process can take weeks to accomplish, and the pain from the wound will leave ~50% of people temporarily disabled.

Eradication

Upon eradication of Small pox, the WHO purposed this parasite as the second disease to fully eradicate. Since this started there has been a 99.99% reduction and over the last decade there has consistently been less than 100 cases with 2025 only having 10 human cases reported. (https://media.nature.com/lw767/magazine-assets/d41586-022-00385-z/d41586-022-00385-z\_20120416.jpg?as=webp). Since this effort started we have learned that certain animals like dogs or baboons can act as hosts, though even with this caveat its been eliminated from ~17 countries entirely so its only a matter of time. Additionally fish can act as a paratenic host allowing the parasite to be passed to a person if they eat the undercooked fish (though this too is not very common)

why this matters

This was for a long time considered a neglected tropical disease, it was considered a minor burden not worth addressing. However during its peak(1986) it was estimated that 25% of all school absentees in Nigeria were the result of this parasite alone. In villages it was common for ~50% of people to get infected with this worm with a significant proportion being disabled during this time, which again could last several weeks even months. Additionally due to timing, the peak time for this infection would be during the farming season, which would significantly impact the food security and economics of the regions impacted by this parasites.

“the Economic Rate of Return (ERR) is 11%, 29% or 44%, if the average period of incapacitation is 4, 5, or 6 weeks, respectively (although estimates from 12 published studies (cited above) indicate that the extent of incapacitation caused by dracunculiasis averages 8.5 weeks, range 2–16 weeks” -Ruiz-Tiben, Ernesto, and Donald R. Hopkins. "Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) eradication." Advances in parasitology 61 (2006): 275-309.

Jimmy carter

One of the main reasons that we have had such a great success in this eradication is primarily attributable to former president jimmy carter. Jimmy started the carter foundation, who’s main focus was on eradication of this disease(they have branched out to more neglected diseases now) and they achieved this primarily through education, and simple technology.

First they taught people how this parasite is transmitted, which has allowed societal change preventing the source of this parasites, and they got people to start implementing filters into their daily lives.

The main tool used to eradicate this parasite, was fine mesh cloth to filter water. By doing this the infected copepods carrying this parasite were removed from the water.

religious overlap

Some scholars believe that this parasite is mentioned in the bible, in numbers 21:6 in which Israelites were attacked by a “fiery serpents”, and that to get ride of them mosses wrapped a bronze snake around a poll. Many believe that these fiery serpents are reference to guinea worm due to the intense burning caused by this parasite. Additionally the bronze snake wrapped around a poll, is very similar to the method to extract the worm (slowly wrapping the parasite around a stick). Moreover, some believe that this may also have inspired the medical symbol the rod of asclepius or the caduceus