U.K. Pledges $31 Million to Help Wipe Out Guinea Worm Disease

Guinea worm disease has plagued mankind for centuries, and now on the brink of eradication, funding from the British government could be that extra push that will finally lead to complete elimination of this infectious disease. Last week, the British government pledged about $31 million to help eradicate guinea worm disease once and for all. Read more about this announcement in the excerpt below, or click here for the full article published by the Wall Street Journal.

“The British government has pledged about $31 million to help eradicate guinea worm disease, a donation that public-health experts say will bring them close to finishing the job.

A quarter century ago, the crippling parasitic infection afflicted 3.5 million people a year in more than 20 countries. This year, there are expected to be just over 1,000 cases in four African countries. More than 98% of those cases are in South Sudan, with a few dozen in Ethiopia, Mali, and Chad.

Guinea worm disease is passed along when people drink water from sources containing water fleas that harbor guinea worm larvae. Once inside a human, the larvae spawn worms that can reach three feet in length. The worms incubate for a year and then emerge slowly through painful lesions. When people soak their lesion-covered limbs in water, the worms release larvae, starting the cycle all over again.”

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