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This report summarizes the status of the global Dracunculiasis Eradication Program as of early 2008. By the end of 2007, dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) transmission had been eliminated from 15 of the 20 countries where the disease was endemic in 1986, only 9,585 cases were reported worldwide, and 2,016 villages still had indigenous cases of the disease. Two of the remaining affected countries (Nigeria and Niger) reported < 100 cases in 2007 and are on the verge of eliminating dracunculiasis if they have not stopped transmission already. Sudan, Ghana, and Mali are addressing their final challenges to interrupting all remaining transmission by the end of 2009.
Received June 9, 2008. Accepted for publication June 20, 2008.
Acknowledgments: The authors thank Renn McClintic-Doyle, Lauri Hudson-Davis, and Shandal Sullivan for assistance in preparing this manuscript. We also acknowledge the contribution of the national coordinators, village-based volunteers, other health workers in the disease-endemic countries, and other staff of The Carter Center, the WHO Collaborating Center for Research, Training, and Eradication of Dracunculiasis at the CDC, WHO, and UNICEF to these significant accomplishments. We are grateful to Health and Development International for its support of interventions in a number of endemic countries. We publish this paper in memory of Dr. Robert L. Kaiser.
Financial support: During 2007–2008, The Carter Center’s work to eradicate Guinea worm disease has been made possible by financial and in-kind contributions from BASF Corporation, The Boston Foundation, The Howard G. Buffet Foundation, Canadian International Development Agency, Carani Charitable Foundation, Chevron Corporation, Christian Church Foundation, Inc., The Crawford Family Foundation, Delta Medical Supplies, Early College High School, The Franklin Mint, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Aero Logistics, Global Spectrum Inc., Google, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, John C. and Karyl Kay Hughes Foundation, The John P. Hussman Foundation, Inc., Government of Japan, Johnson & Johnson, The Kendeda Fund, The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, The AG Leventis Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. Mac-Arthur Foundation, National Christian Charitable Foundation, Inc., Government of Norway, The Next Generation Fund of the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation, The Osprey Foundation of Maryland, The P Twenty-One Foundation, Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet, The Saudi Fund for Development, St. John Student Parish, Thornton Avenue Baptist Church, Trinity Christian College, US Agency for International Development, UNICEF, Vestergaard Frandsen, YKK Corporation, and many generous individuals.
* Address correspondence to Donald R. Hopkins, The Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307. E-mail: sdsulli{at}emory.edu
Authors’ addresses: Donald R. Hopkins, Health Programs, The Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307, Tel: 404-420-3837, Fax: 404-874-5515, E-mail: sdsulli{at}emory.edu. Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben, Guinea Worm Eradication Program, The Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307, Tel: 770-488-4509, Fax: 770-488-4532, E-mail: exr1{at}cdc.gov. Philip Downs, Guinea Worm Eradication Program, The Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307, Tel: 770-488-4507, Fax: 770-488-4532, E-mail: pid9{at}cdc.gov. P. Craig Withers, Jr., Program Support Health Programs, The Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307, Tel: 404-420-3851, Fax: 404-874-5515, E-mail: cwither{at}emory.edu. Sharon Roy, Division of Parasitic Diseases National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MS F22, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341, Tel: 770-488-4412, Fax: 770-488-7760, E-mail: str2{at}cdc.gov.
Reprint requests: Donald R. Hopkins, The Carter Center, 453 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30307.
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