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Global eradication of human Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) has been set back by the emergence of infections in animals, particularly domestic dogs Canis familiaris. The ecology and epidemiology of this reservoir is unknown. We tracked dogs using GPS, inferred diets using stable isotope analysis and analysed correlates of infection in Chad, where numbers of Guinea worm infections are greatest. Dogs had small ranges that varied markedly among villages. Diets consisted largely of human staples and human faeces. A minority of ponds, mostly <200 m from dog-owning households, accounted for most dog exposure to potentially unsafe water. The risk of a dog having had Guinea worm was reduced in dogs living in households providing water for animals but increased with increasing fish consumption by dogs. Provision of safe water might reduce dog exposure to unsafe water, while prioritisation of proactive temephos (Abate) application to the small number of ponds to which dogs have most access is recommended. Fish might have an additional role as transport hosts for Guinea worm, by concentrating copepods infected with worm larvae.

Dracunculiasis, commonly known as guinea worm disease, is a nematode infection transmitted to humans exclusively via contaminated drinking water. The disease prevails in the most deprived areas of the world. No vaccine or medicine is available against the disease: eradication is being achieved by implementing preventive measures. These include behavioural change in patients and communities—such as self-reporting suspected cases to health workers or volunteers, filtering drinking water and accessing water from improved sources and preventing infected individuals from wading or swimming in drinking-water sources—supplemented by active surveillance and case containment, vector control and provision of improved water sources. Efforts to eradicate dracunculiasis began in the early 1980s. By the end of 2012, the disease had reached its lowest levels ever. This paper reviews the progress made in eradicating dracunculiasis since the eradication campaign began, the factors influencing progress and the difficulties in controlling the pathogen that requires behavioural change, especially when the threat becomes rare. The challenges of intensifying surveillance are discussed, particularly in insecure areas containing the last foci of the disease. It also summarizes the broader benefits uniquely linked to interventions against dracunculiasis.

Plant parasitic cyst nematodes induce specific hypermetabolic syncytial nurse cell structures in host roots. A characteristic feature of syncytia is the lack of the central vacuole and the formation of numerous small and larger vesicles. We show that these structures are formed de novo via widening of ER cisternae during the entire development of syncytium, whereas in advanced stages of syncytium development, larger vacuoles are also formed via fusion of vesicles/tubules surrounding organelle-free pre-vacuole regions. Immunogold transmission electron microscopy of syncytia localised the vacuolar markers E subunit of vacuolar H+-adenosinetriphosphatase (V-ATPase) complex and tonoplast intrinsic protein (γ-TIP1;1) mostly in membranes surrounding syncytial vesicles, thus indicating that these structures are vacuoles and that some of them have a lytic character. To study the function of syncytial vacuoles, changes in expression of AtVHA-B1, AtVHA-B2 and AtVHA-B3 (coding for isoforms of subunit B of V-ATPase), and TIP1;1 and TIP1;2 (coding for γ-TIP proteins) genes were analysed. RT-qPCR revealed significant downregulation of AtVHA-B2, TIP1;1 and TIP1;2 at the examined stages of syncytium development compared to uninfected roots. Expression of VHA-B1 and VHA-B3 decreased at 3 dpi but reached the level of control at 7 dpi. These results were confirmed for TIP1;1 by monitoring At-γ-TIP-YFP reporter construct expression. Infection test conducted on tip1;1 mutant plants showed formation of larger syncytia and higher numbers of females in comparison to wild-type plants indicating that reduced levels or lack of TIP1;1 protein promote nematode development.

Dracunculiasis is a preventable parasitic disease that for many years has affected poor communities without a safe portable water supply. Transmission is basically limited among the nomadic in remote rural settings. Most countries, including Asia, are declared free from the Guinea worm disease restraining the burden of transmission to Africa especially Sudan, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Niger. This review focuses mainly on the progress made so far by the Global Guinea Worm Eradication Programme championed by the Carter Center, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organisation, The United Nations Children’s Fund and the individual efforts of endemic nations through their National Guinea Worm Eradication Programme aimed towards total global Guinea worm eradication.

For all the SGWEP's successes so far, dracunculiasis cannot be eradicated from Sudan until Sudan's civil war is ended. (With an incubation period of 2 weeks or less, and a vaccine, it may be possible to eradicate polio from Sudan before the war ends, but it will be hard to prove it. Smallpox was eradicated during Sudan's brief decade of peace.) We estimate that it will take 3-5 years to completely eradicate dracunculiasis in Sudan once the war is settled. Until then, the actual and potential costs to Sudan, its neighbours, and supporters of the eradication campaign will be substantial. They include the costs (now about US$2 million per year) to maintain the programme in Sudan; costs of maintaining surveillance to detect cases exported from southern Sudan to northern Sudan and to neighbouring countries; costs if an undetected case re-establishes transmission in Ethiopia, for example; and the costs of maintaining WHO's International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication for the additional years.

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. Approximately 1 year after initial infection from contaminated drinking water, the worm emerges through the skin of the infected person, usually on the lower limb. Pain and secondary bacterial wound infection can cause temporary or permanent disability that disrupts work and schooling for the entire family. In 1986, the World Health Assembly (WHA) called for dracunculiasis elimination and the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, supported by The Carter Center, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), CDC, and other partners, was coalesced to assist ministries of health of endemic countries in meeting this goal. At that time, an estimated 3.5 million cases occurred annually in 20 countries in Africa and Asia. This report updates published and previously unpublished surveillance data reported by ministries of health and describes progress toward global dracunculiasis eradication. In 2011, a total of 1,058 cases were reported. As of 2012, dracunculiasis remained endemic in only four countries. Through June 2012, worldwide reductions in reported cases continued, compared with the first 6 months of 2011. Failures in surveillance and containment, lack of clean drinking water, and insecurity in Mali and parts of South Sudan continue to challenge dracunculiasis eradication efforts.

In 1986, the World Health Assembly (WHA) called for the elimination of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), a parasitic infection in humans caused by Dracunculus medinensis. At the time, an estimated 3.5 million cases were occurring annually in 20 countries in Africa and Asia, and 120 million persons were at risk for the disease. Because of slow mobilization in countries with endemic disease, the 1991 WHA goal to eradicate dracunculiasis globally by 1995 was not achieved. In 2004, WHA established a new target date of 2009 for global eradication; despite considerable progress, that target date also was not met. This report updates published and previously unpublished data and describes progress towards global eradication of dracunculiasis since January 2010. The number of indigenous cases of dracunculiasis worldwide decreased 44%, from 3,185 cases in 2009 to 1,793 in 2010. As of June 2011, dracunculiasis remained endemic in three countries (Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan). Of the 814 cases that occurred during January-June 2011, a total of 801 (98%) were reported from 358 villages in South Sudan. By October 2010, Ghana had gone 12 months without an indigenous case, thereby interrupting transmission; Ethiopia and Mali are close to interrupting transmission, as indicated by the small and declining numbers of cases in these two countries. An outbreak of 10 cases was discovered in Chad in 2010. The current target is to interrupt transmission in the remaining countries as soon as possible. Insecurity (e.g., sporadic violence or civil unrest) in areas of South Sudan and Mali, where dracunculiasis is endemic, poses the greatest threat to the success of the global dracunculiasis eradication campaign.

Dracunculiasis is a parasitic infection caused by Dracunculus medinensis. Persons become infected by drinking water from stagnant sources (e.g., ponds) contaminated by copepods (water fleas) that contain immature forms of the parasite. In 1986, the World Health Assembly (WHA) called for the eradication of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) at a time when an estimated 3.5 million cases occurred annually in 20 countries in Africa and Asia and 120 million persons were at risk for the disease. Because of slow mobilization in countries with endemic disease, the global dracunculiasis eradication program did not meet the 1995 target date for eradicating dracunculiasis set by WHA in 1991. In 2004, WHA established a new target date of 2009 ; despite considerable progress toward global eradication, that target date also will not be met. This report updates continued progress toward global eradication of dracunculiasis since January 2008. At the end of December 2008, dracunculiasis was endemic in six countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan). The number of indigenous cases of dracunculiasis had decreased 52%, from 9,585 in 2007 to 4,619 in 2008. Of the 1,446 cases that occurred during January-June 2009, 1,413 (98%) were reported from Sudan and Ghana. Currently, insecurity (e.g., sporadic violence or civil unrest) in areas of Sudan and Mali where dracunculiasis is endemic poses the greatest threat to the success of the global dracunculiasis eradication program.