title: Dracunculiasis eradication: and now, South Sudan.
abstract: This report summarizes the status of the global Dracunculiasis Eradication Program as of the end of 2012. Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) has been eliminated from 17 of 21 countries where it was endemic in 1986, when an estimated 3.5 million cases occurred worldwide. Only 542 cases were reported from four countries in 2012, and 103 villages still had indigenous transmission. Most remaining cases were reported from the new Republic of South Sudan, whereas Chad, Ethiopia, and Mali each reported 10 cases or less. Political instability and insecurity in Mali may become the main obstacles to interrupting dracunculiasis transmission forever.
authors.affiliation: The Carter Center, Atlanta, GA, USA. sdsulli@emory.edu
authors.forename: Donald R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hopkins
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Tiben
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: P Craig
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Withers
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Eberhard
authors.forename: Sharon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Roy
mesh_terms: D002596:Chad / Q000453:epidemiology; D060740:Disease Eradication / Q000379:methods*; D004320:Dracunculiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014943:Global Health; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008302:Mali / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D013397:Sudan / Q000453:epidemiology