Guinea worm disease problematic in south

Guinea worm disease cases have declined in much of Africa this year, but remain a particular problem in southern Sudan. There were 66,097 known cases of guinea worm disease in Sudan last year, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Outside Sudan, there were 12,097 cases of guinea worm disease in the first six months of the year, 18 percent less than the 14,828 cases reported during the same period last year, CDC said. According to CDC, civil war in southern Sudan has impeded efforts to eradicate the illness.

Victims of the disease often suffer crippling joint damage when larvae grow into worms up to one meter long and later emerge in the body through painful skin blisters. It is one of the world’s most preventable diseases, if the larvae, through filter systems, can be removed from the water supply over the course of a year. The World Health Organisation said transmission of guinea worm disease has ended in almost all countries outside Africa.