You’ve heard about smallpox, and you’ve learned about rinderpest. Now it’s time to meet what may be the third disease to ever be eradicated: dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea worm disease. In this episode, we take you through the absolutely remarkable life cycle of this not-so-little worm and the nitty gritty of the havoc it wreaks on a person’s body throughout its journey. Then get out your TPWKY bingo cards, because the history of Guinea worm includes not only mummies and historic papyri but also ancient Rome and fun etymology. To bring us up to speed on the current status of Guinea worm today is Sarah Yerian, Senior Associate Director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center. Sara discusses not only how the reduction in prevalence of dracunculiasis has been achieved but also the challenges that remain to finally relegate this worm to the history books.
To learn more about the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center, check out the website or follow them on social media: @CarterCenter. You can also find the link to our firsthand account here.
| History | Biology |
| Grove, David I. A history of human helminthology. CAB International, 1990. | Muller, Ralph. “Dracunculus and dracunculiasis.” Advances in parasitology. Vol. 9. Academic Press, 1971. 73-151. |
| Kiple, Kenneth F. “The Cambridge world history of human disease.” New York (1993). | Ruiz-Tiben, Ernesto, and Donald R. Hopkins. “Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) eradication.” Advances in parasitology 61 (2006): 275-309. |
| Al-Awadi, Abdul R., et al. “Guinea worm (Dracunculiasis) eradication: update on progress and endgame challenges.” Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 108.5 (2014): 249-251. | Hopkins, Donald R. “Dracunculiasis.” Hunter’s Tropical Medicine and Emerging Infectious Diseases. Content Repository Only!, 2020. 878-881. |
| Biswas, Gautam, et al. “Dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease): eradication without a drug or a vaccine.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 368.1623 (2013): 20120146. | Biswas, Gautam, et al. “Dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease): eradication without a drug or a vaccine.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 368.1623 (2013): 20120146. |
| Chisholm, Colin. “On the Malis Dracunculus, or Guinea-Worm.” Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal 11.42 (1815): 145. | Cairncross, Sandy, Ralph Muller, and Nevio Zagaria. “Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) and the eradication initiative.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews 15.2 (2002): 223-246 |
| Miller, R. L. “Dqr, spinning and treatment of guinea worm in P. Ebers 875.” (1989): 249-254. | “54 cases of Guinea worm reported in 2019” The Carter Center. Jan 2020. https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2020/guinea-worm-worldwide-cases-jan2020.html |
| Moran-Thomas, Amy. “A salvage ethnography of the Guinea worm: witchcraft, oracles and magic in a disease eradication program.” When people come first: Critical studies in global health (2013): 207-242. | |
| Moran-Thomas, Amy. “The creation of emergency and afterlife of intervention: Reflections on Guinea worm eradication in Ghana.” Medical Humanitarianism: Ethnographies of Practice (2015): 209. | |
| Tayeh, Ahmed, Sandy Cairncross, and Francis EG Cox. “Guinea worm: from Robert Leiper to eradication.” Parasitology 144.12 (2017): 1643-1648. | |
| Watts, Susan. “Perceptions and priorities in disease eradication: dracunculiasis eradication in Africa.” Social Science & Medicine 46.7 (1998): 799-810. | |
| Watts, Susan. “Dracunculiasis in the Caribbean and South America: a contribution to the history of dracunculiasis eradication.” Medical history 44.2 (2000): 227-250. | |
| “Foul Water, Fiery Serpent.” , directed by Gary Strieker. , American Public Television, 2010. Alexander Street, https://video-alexanderstreet-com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/watch/foul-water-fiery-serpent. |
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