What is the lifecycle of guinea worms?
The male worm dies shortly after mating, and the female matures over the subsequent 10–14 months, slowly migrates to the surface of the body and emerges through the skin. When affected body parts are submerged in water, the female worm releases larvae, which are ingested by copepods, thus completing the life cycle.
How long does Guinea worm last?
Key facts. Dracunculiasis is a crippling parasitic disease on the verge of eradication, with 27 human cases reported in 2020. From the time infection occurs, it takes between 10–14 months for the transmission cycle to complete.
How did Nigeria eradicate Guinea worm?
In 1988, when Nigeria reported more than 650 000 cases of guinea-worm disease, the Government launched an eradication programme following a World Health Assembly Resolution that called for the disease’s global eradication. The country could only be certified guinea-worm free when no cases were detected for 3 years.
Where does the Guinea worm live?
guinea worm, (Dracunculus medinensis), also called medina worm or dragon worm, member of the phylum Nematoda. The guinea worm, a parasite of humans, is found in tropical regions of Asia and Africa and in the West Indies and tropical South America.
What happens if a guinea worm breaks?
If the worm breaks during removal it can cause intense inflammation as the remaining part of the dead worm starts to degrade inside the body. This causes more pain, swelling, and cellulitis[1, 2].
Is Guinea worm painful?
People in remote rural communities who have Guinea worm disease often do not have access to health care. When the adult female worm comes out of the skin, it can be very painful, take time to remove, and be disabling. The wound caused by the emerging worm may develop a secondary bacterial infection.
How long do guinea worms grow?
After mating, the pregnant female worm grows to 60–100 centimeters (2–3 feet) in length and as wide as a cooked spaghetti noodle during the next 10–14 months (on average 12 months or 1 year).
What happens if Guinea worm breaks?
How is Guinea worm prevented and controlled?
Prevention & Control
- Surveillance (case detection) and case containment (preventing contamination of drinking water sources by infected persons or animals)
- Provision of safe drinking water.
- Vector control (killing of the copepods involved in the Guinea worm life cycle) using the approved chemical temephos.
How do guinea worms enter the human body?
People become infected with Guinea worms by drinking unfiltered water from ponds and other stagnant water containing copepods (tiny “water fleas” too small to be clearly seen without a magnifying glass). These copepods swallow Guinea worm larvae.
What happens if the Guinea worm breaks?
Is Guinea worm a virus?
Dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea worm disease (GWD), is an infection caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis. A parasite is an organism that feeds off another organism to survive. GWD is spread by drinking water containing Guinea worm larvae.
What do guinea worms do to humans?
A parasite that enters the human body in contaminated drinking water, grows for almost a year and emerges through a burning blister in the skin. Symptoms: Symptoms begin just before the worm starts to emerge from the blister. Victims suffer intense pain, often accompanied by bacterial infection and inability to walk.
What happens if a Guinea worm breaks?