<story><title>Guinea worm disease reaches all-time low</title><url>https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/2022-guinea-worm-worldwide-cases-announcement.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dgrin91</author><text>I still don&amp;#x27;t understand how getting rid of the last human case will resolve the issue. Presumably these crustaceans &amp;amp; worms still exist in the wild? Isn&amp;#x27;t there always a chance for a new flareup to occur?</text></item><item><author>capableweb</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s mentioned that &amp;quot;GWD is spread by drinking water containing Guinea worm larvae&amp;quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cdc.gov&amp;#x2F;parasites&amp;#x2F;guineaworm&amp;#x2F;gen_info&amp;#x2F;faqs.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cdc.gov&amp;#x2F;parasites&amp;#x2F;guineaworm&amp;#x2F;gen_info&amp;#x2F;faqs.html&lt;/a&gt;) but also that &amp;quot;There was no chance for the disease to return after the last human case occurs&amp;quot;, how does that fit together? Are people getting it from drinking from the same infected water sources as others, and by not seeing anyone getting it means there is no more infected water sources?&lt;p&gt;Edit: Apropos nothing, it sounds terrible to get infected:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Guinea worm disease is usually contracted when people consume water contaminated with tiny crustaceans (called copepods) that eat Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis) larvae. The larvae develop into adults within the human host. After about a year, a meter-long pregnant female worm emerges slowly through a painful blister in the skin, often of the legs or feet. A sufferer may seek relief by dipping the affected limb in water. However, contact with water stimulates the emerging worm to release its larvae and start the cycle anew.&lt;p&gt;Edit: Which, I think answered my question. Leaving my comment rather than deleting it as maybe others had the same question.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>maxerickson</author><text>The parasite has a life cycle that passes through several stages.&lt;p&gt;One of the stages involves infecting a mammal (and apparently mostly human) host.&lt;p&gt;If you disrupt that stage, you disrupt the life cycle of the parasite. If you disrupt that stage completely, no parasite continues to the next cycle and after a bit of time there isn&amp;#x27;t any more parasite.</text></comment>
<story><title>Guinea worm disease reaches all-time low</title><url>https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/2023/2022-guinea-worm-worldwide-cases-announcement.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dgrin91</author><text>I still don&amp;#x27;t understand how getting rid of the last human case will resolve the issue. Presumably these crustaceans &amp;amp; worms still exist in the wild? Isn&amp;#x27;t there always a chance for a new flareup to occur?</text></item><item><author>capableweb</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s mentioned that &amp;quot;GWD is spread by drinking water containing Guinea worm larvae&amp;quot; (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cdc.gov&amp;#x2F;parasites&amp;#x2F;guineaworm&amp;#x2F;gen_info&amp;#x2F;faqs.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.cdc.gov&amp;#x2F;parasites&amp;#x2F;guineaworm&amp;#x2F;gen_info&amp;#x2F;faqs.html&lt;/a&gt;) but also that &amp;quot;There was no chance for the disease to return after the last human case occurs&amp;quot;, how does that fit together? Are people getting it from drinking from the same infected water sources as others, and by not seeing anyone getting it means there is no more infected water sources?&lt;p&gt;Edit: Apropos nothing, it sounds terrible to get infected:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Guinea worm disease is usually contracted when people consume water contaminated with tiny crustaceans (called copepods) that eat Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis) larvae. The larvae develop into adults within the human host. After about a year, a meter-long pregnant female worm emerges slowly through a painful blister in the skin, often of the legs or feet. A sufferer may seek relief by dipping the affected limb in water. However, contact with water stimulates the emerging worm to release its larvae and start the cycle anew.&lt;p&gt;Edit: Which, I think answered my question. Leaving my comment rather than deleting it as maybe others had the same question.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jvanderbot</author><text>From wikipedia,&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;In 2020, Guinea worm was found in 1507 domestic dogs in Chad, 15 in Ethiopia, and eight in Mali, as well as in 61 domestic cats in Chad and three in Ethiopia. Small numbers have also been found in wildcats and baboons.[9] These findings are a potential problem for the eradication program. &amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;Now I&amp;#x27;m making things up, but it may be that eradication from human water sources is enough to break the cycle, if maybe the other mammals in the area are more migratory and cannot provide a consistent reservoir.</text></comment>