Guinea Worm Eradication: New Clinical and Public Health Challenges at the Last Mile

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease · Published 2026-08-04 · DOI 10.3390/tropicalmed11080218

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Authors (6)

Barry R. Davis, John Dunn, Lisette V. Alcantara, Dennis G. Maki, Timothy D. Dye, Charles H. Hennekens

Abstract

Guinea worm disease is approaching eradication, with only 10 human cases reported worldwide in 2025, the lowest annual total recorded. Yet the final phase of eradication presents complex clinical and public health challenges that differ from earlier stages of control. Persistent animal infections, particularly in dogs, civil conflict, fragile health systems, financing disruptions, and the need for prolonged surveillance threaten progress at the point when global attention may wane. Unlike smallpox, Guinea worm has been driven to near-eradication without a vaccine, curative drug, or rapid diagnostic test, relying instead on safe water, filtration, vector control, case containment, community education, reporting incentives, and sustained field operations. This Perspective argues that eradication remains achievable but requires a specific policy agenda: protected financing for surveillance, animal-source transmission control, safe-water measures, operational access, and certification through 2030. Completing the final mile would represent a permanent preventive achievement and a durable victory for neglected populations too often overlooked.

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Publication details

Year
2026

Citation

Davis, B., Dunn, J., Alcantara, L., et al. (2026). Guinea Worm Eradication: New Clinical and Public Health Challenges at the Last Mile. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed11080218

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