** Guinea worm disease on the way out!
January 19th, 2016** Only 22 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in 2015,
** 126 cases reported in 2014.
** When the campaign began, there were an estimated 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm infestation
** The cases were spread across 20 villages in four countries (Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan)
** Guinea worms have been found in hundreds of dogs in Chad, raising the danger that they have found a new host.
** Guinea worm and polio are the two diseases now closest to being eliminated.
** There were only 70 cases of polio paralysis in the world last year, all in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Causal Agent:
Dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease) is caused by the nematode (roundworm) Dracunculus medinensis.
Life Cycle:
Humans become infected by drinking unfiltered water containing copepods (small crustaceans) which are infected with larvae of D. medinensis 
. Following ingestion, the copepods die and release the larvae, which penetrate the host stomach and intestinal wall and enter the abdominal cavity and retroperitoneal space 
. After maturation into adults and copulation, the male worms die and the females (length: 70 to 120 cm) migrate in the subcutaneous tissues towards the skin surface 
. Approximately one year after infection, the female worm induces a blister on the skin, generally on the distal lower extremity, which ruptures. When this lesion comes into contact with water, a contact that the patient seeks to relieve the local discomfort, the female worm emerges and releases larvae 
. The larvae are ingested by a copepod 
and after two weeks (and two molts) have developed into infective larvae 
. Ingestion of the copepods closes the cycle .
