A person contracts Guinea worm when he or she drinks stagnant water that is contaminated with microscopic water fleas that carry infective larvae. Inside a person's abdomen, Guinea worm larvae mature, growing up to 3 feet in length. About a year after infection, a Guinea worm will slowly emerge through an agonizingly painful blister it creates in the skin. The contamination cycle begins again when victims, seeking relief from the burning sensation caused by emerging Guinea worms, immerse their limbs in water in the local pond, which stimulates the emerging worm to release larvae into the water. Water fleas eat the larvae, and people who drink unfiltered water from the pond become infected.
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