What does a Guinea worm look like? Symptoms explored as Jimmy Carter's decades long goal to eradicate disease goes viral

Former US president Jimmy Carter celebrated his 99th birthday on October 1. Many world leaders and pop culture figures took to the internet to pay tribute to the humanitarian. Jimmy Carter was accompanied by his wife Rosalynn, their children, grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren at their Plains, Georgia residence to celebrate his birthday.

Amidst the celebrations, the news of him nearly eradicating Guinea worm disease also went viral online. Guinea worms are tiny parasites that resemble threads. Before breaking through the skin, they can expand inside the human body to a length of three feet (one meter).

The former Potus made it his mission during his presidency to eradicate the infection with the help of his Carter Center foundation. As family and friends took part in the celebrations, news of only six active Guinea worm disease cases remaining went viral online.

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What is Guinea worm disease? A look into it as Jimmy Carter’s mission nears success

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Guinea worm disease is a neglected tropical disease that mostly affects the people of Africa and poor communities. It is caused by the Dracunculus medinensis parasite which is transmitted into the human body through unclean water.

People get infected by the guinea worm once they drink the water contaminated by the worm larvae. Once consumed, the larvae migrate into abdominal tissues where male and female worms mate and eventually travel along other tissues and bones. Usually, they make it to one’s legs.

The adult worm can reach the size of one meter in length. As they bore through the tissues, they make it to the surface of the skin to form a blister.

Due to the explicit nature of the disease, an image of the same has not been included in this article.

Some symptoms of Guinea worm disease include fever, pain, and swelling in the area where the worm resides. Once people observe a swelling in the infected area, it is a signal that the worm will emerge into the surface. This swelling can cause extreme pain.

The disease can be treated by removing the worm entirely from the infected area.

The availability of clean drinking water is key to preventing the disease from entering communities.

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Carter Center's achievements explored

Between 1986 and 1994, Jimmy Carter launched his program alongside the CDC to put an end to the painful infection. In 1988, President Jimmy Carter visited Ghana to investigate the outbreak.

Speaking about the same, he had said in an interview with TIME,

“Villagers of all ages were too weak to walk or permanently scarred and crippled. As a result, a community would go hungry because its farmers were too sick to work the fields… encountering those victims firsthand, particularly teenagers and small children, propelled me and Rosalynn to set up the Carter Center’s efforts to eradicate guinea worm disease.”

In efforts of the same, Carter supported the BASF Corporation which donated the Abate larvicide which killed water fleas. With the help of the Carter Center, several countries eradicated the disease including India, Cameroon, Senegal, and Yemen amongst others.

Jimmy Carter went on to receive the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.

As efforts continued, the Carter Center announced that they had eradicated the disease in Nigeria by 2009 as well. In 2017, it was announced that only three countries in the world suffered from the Guinea worm disease.

As of January 2023, the Carter Center announced that there were only 13 reported cases of the disease globally, making it a massive step in the eradication program.