Fighting Disease:  Central African Republic

Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease

Current Status: Transmission stopped, 2001 (read the announcement)
Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication: 2007

For the most current Guinea worm case reports, read the Guinea Worm Wrap-Up newsletter >

Dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease, is a preventable parasitic infection contracted when a person ingests drinking water from stagnant sources containing copepods (commonly referred to as water fleas) that harbor infective Guinea worm larvae. Inside a person's body, the larvae grow for a year, becoming thin threadlike worms up to 1 meter long. These worms create agonizingly painful blisters in the skin through which they slowly exit the body, preventing the victim from attending school, caring for children, or harvesting crops. Learn more about the historic Carter Center-led campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease >

When the national eradication program began in the Central African Republic, it was unclear whether Guinea worm cases were endemic or imported to the country. In 2000, a team of specialists traveled to the nation and determined that the disease was probably endemic, although cases were few – only 15 villages reporting one or more infections in 1999.

To assist the Central African Republic in preventing transmission of Guinea worm disease, The Carter Center provided endemic communities with cloth water filters – used to strain out the infective Guinea worm larvae – as well as applied ABATE® larvicide, donated by BASF Corporation, to local stagnant water sources. The Carter Center also supported a Guinea worm eradication consultant for the Central African Republic from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The nation stopped disease transmission in 2001.

In 2007, the World Health Organization certified the Central African Republic as free of Guinea worm disease.