Progress Toward Global Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease) Eradication, January 2023-June 2024

The effort to eradicate Dracunculus medinensis, the etiologic agent of dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease, began at CDC in 1980. In 1986, with an estimated 3.5 million global cases in 20 African and Asian countries, the World Health Assembly called for dracunculiasis elimination. The Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP) was established to help countries with endemic dracunculiasis reach this goal. GWEP is led by The Carter Center and supported by partners, including the countries with endemic disease, CDC, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization. Since 2012, infections in dogs, cats, and baboons have posed a new challenge for GWEP, as have ongoing civil unrest and insecurity in some areas. As of June 2024, dracunculiasis remained endemic in five countries (Angola, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan). Fourteen human cases and 886 animal infections occurred, including 407 dogs in Chad and 248 dogs in Cameroon, reported in 2023, and three human cases and 297 animal infections reported during January-June 2024. Animal infections, primarily in dogs in Cameroon and Chad, and impeded access due to civil unrest and insecurity in Mali, threaten the near-term possibility of global eradication. Nevertheless, countries appear poised to reach zero cases.