Fighting Disease:  Niger

Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease

Current Status:Transmission stopped, October 2008 (read the announcement)
Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication: Pending

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 >

Since 1986, the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program has led a world coalition fighting to eradicate this devastating disease. In Niger, The Carter Center has been working with the national program to eliminate Guinea worm disease since 1993. When the program began, five of Niger's six regions – Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi, and Diffa – were endemic, hosting approximately 33,000 cases of Guinea worm disease in 1,700 villages. Read full text >

Controlling Trachoma

The leading cause of preventable blindness in the world, trachoma is an excruciating bacterial disease endemic to the poorest countries of the world. Although not typically a fatal disease, severe trachoma is disabling, debilitating, and eventually leads to blindness. The Carter Center supports trachoma control in six African countries in partnership with trachoma-endemic communities, ministries of health, the Lions Clubs International Foundation, Pfizer Inc., and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Learn more about the Carter Center's Trachoma Control Program >

For additional information and updates on the following health program, read the latest issue of Eye of the Eagle >

In late 1998, The Carter Center capitalized on its experience and knowledge gained from the Guinea Worm Eradication Program to work with the government of Niger and partner organizations to implement trachoma control. National trachoma prevalence surveys conducted in Niger from 1997-1999 found the burden of trachoma to be concentrated in the regions of Zinder, Diffa, and Maradi. High prevalence of trachoma in children and trichiasis in adults indicated that trachoma was indeed a public health problem in Niger. Read full text >