guinea worm

Health & Safety

Jimmy Carter took on the awful Guinea worm when no one else would — and he triumphed

12:35pm February 23, 2023

Carter targeted diseases primarily affecting the poor in remote areas — notably "Guinea worm disease." Because of his commitment, case numbers plummeted from 3.6 million a year to just 13 in 2022.

The End Of Guinea Worm Was Just Around the Corner. Not Anymore

1:20pm October 04, 2019

by Tim McDonnell

The World Health Organization had hoped to eradicate the painful parasite by 2020. That deadline just got moved a decade into the future. And dogs are part of the problem.

The white, threadlike Guinea worm emerges from an infected foot.

Health & Safety

'Amazing' News About The Awful Guinea Worm

2:29pm March 21, 2018

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Despite an ongoing civil war, South Sudan has successfully stopped transmission of the horrific parasite. The milestone means the worm is circulating in only three countries.

From left: Emmanuel Kwame lost his sight to river blindness as a young man in Ghana; a bed net keeps mosquitoes away from a mother and child in a Somalian hospital; extracting a guinea worm from an infected person.

Wins And Losses In Global Health In 2016

11:59am December 23, 2016

by Jason Beaubien

The editor of the New England Journal Of Medicine is a big Red Sox fan. And so he framed the year in global health in baseball terms.

Why The World Isn't Close To Eradicating Guinea Worm

10:08am August 10, 2016

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Health officials thought they were close to wiping out the parasite. It's been President Carter's dream for decades. But the dogs of Chad have turned out to be a major problem.

Queue Listen Now

Trading Cards: The Who's Who Of #NPRWormWeek

5:55pm August 08, 2016

by Adam Cole

There are hundreds of thousands of species of worms wriggling around the world. We made trading cards about six of them.

Some people in the global health sector call him "Bono with a bow tie." Dr. Peter Hotez in his office at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

#NPRWormWeek: The Scientist Who's Waging A War On Worms

1:17pm August 08, 2016

by Malaka Gharib

Scientist Peter Hotez has spent nearly 40 years trying to treat and eliminate the diseases that worms can cause. And he won't let the "ick" factor stop him.