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Guinea worm on track to be 2nd eradicated human disease; only 10 cases in 2025

https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/02/guinea-worm-on-track-to-be-2nd-eradicated-human-disease-only-10-cases-in-2025/
64•bookofjoe•1h ago

Comments

cubefox•1h ago
Sounds like there is still some way to go:

> To fully eradicate the disease, cases in animals (infected by the same species of worm) must also be wiped out. In 2025, animal cases were detected in Chad (147 cases), Mali (17), Cameroon (445), Angola (70), Ethiopia (1), and South Sudan (3).

poulpy123•1h ago
The decrease from 3.5 million cases to only 15 is impressive but I don't see how we can eradicate zoonoses
bookofjoe•1h ago
>In 2024, there were just 15 cases, and, according to the provisional tally for 2025, the number is down to just 10.
bawolff•1h ago
From the article it looks like they are working on that too

> To fully eradicate the disease, cases in animals (infected by the same species of worm) must also be wiped out. In 2025, animal cases were detected in Chad (147 cases), Mali (17), Cameroon (445), Angola (70), Ethiopia (1), and South Sudan (3).

Insanity•54m ago
But the question would be how many more go undetected in those animals. (I.e if wild animals carry it, how accurate are these numbers).
0cf8612b2e1e•49m ago
It was a somewhat recent discovery that there were animal reservoirs escaping detection. Carter had hoped to outlive the worm, but it was thought that the animal pools were going to make full eradication take an additional 20 years.
tialaramex•1m ago
It probably helps that the worms don't care. That is, a worm whose ancestors lived in dogs can live in a human no problem and vice versa.

If you eradicate GWD in your region but, eh, not in dogs, well people in your region keep getting GWD anyway. But if you eliminate it entirely you're just done. So that's a strong incentive to ensure the latter.

Most drastic options are probably available in the afflicted countries than would be acceptable in many places that haven't had GWD for a hundred years or more. If you tell the population of rural France that military and police are going to start shooting wild animals dead as a disease control measure there will be mass protests. But in South Sudan hey, at least you aren't proposing to shoot all the members of some minority ethnic group.

MPSimmons•1h ago
I was going to say, "finally something that ivermectin can help with!" except https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7974686/
fanatic2pope•55m ago
Thanks, Carter!

https://www.cartercenter.org/programs/guinea-worm/

atdt•55m ago
Please share this with someone who doesn't know the story yet. Ingenuity alone can't save our species. We also need the will to do good. We are living through a moment of deep cynicism about our ability to solve existential problems. Let this be a reminder of what we are capable of.
carlosft•52m ago
> We are living through a moment of deep cynicism about our ability to solve existential problems.

I have no doubt that we can create a really miraculous future. I am just increasingly pessimistic about our collective desire to do so.

jackyinger•17m ago
Cultivating optimism is the first step. Optimism is irrational, you can just choose to have it (of course thinking about good things that have happened helps). Optimism is the precondition for doing good.

So what if there’s a low collective will at the moment. Do your part to be part to grow the collective will to good. Go volunteer for a good cause (food bank, community organizations, etc.), donate to good causes, just be friendly to other people you see.

palmotea•42m ago
The free market could never accomplish something like this.
bugeats•13m ago
Consider what you might choose to do for the public good with the 30% of your income that is taken from you in the name of the public good.

Philanthropy is a predictable outcome of an individual having met the basic needs of Maslow’s hierarchy. Consider how many more philanthropists would be created by returning this 30% back to individual discernment.

harladsinsteden•1m ago
Which 30% are you talking about? Taxes? If so: From what do you build things like infrastructure?

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