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4w ago

Guinea Worm Cases Drop to 10 Worldwide in 2025, Carter Center Says

The program is pivoting to develop early animal diagnostics to cut the last chains of transmission from persistent reservoirs.

FILE - Aid workers with the Carter Center work in the community to raise awareness about Guinea worm and a family impacted in Jarweng, South Sudan, on May 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, file)
FILE - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter poses for photographers with a water pipe filter, that is used to combat guinea worm disease, during a news conference to mark the launch of a campaign to eradicate the disease in central London, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)
FILE - In this March 9, 2007 file photo, a guinea worm is extracted by a health worker from a child's foot at a containment center in Savelugu, Ghana. (AP Photo/Olivier Asselin, File)
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Overview

  • Four cases were reported in Chad, four in Ethiopia and two in South Sudan in 2025, a 33% decline from 15 human cases in 2024.
  • Animal infections continue to complicate eradication, with Cameroon reporting 445, Chad 147, Angola 70, Mali 17, South Sudan 3 and Ethiopia 1, reflecting slight overall growth despite declines in some countries.
  • Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Mali reported zero human cases for the second consecutive year.
  • The Carter Center’s next phase focuses on developing diagnostic tests, especially for animals, to detect infections before symptoms and prevent contamination of water sources.
  • Field work with WHO and national ministries continues through volunteer networks, rapid case-rumor investigations and water filtration efforts, in a campaign with no medical treatment that would join smallpox as one of only two eradicated human diseases.