Progress Toward Eradication of Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease) — Worldwide, January 2024–June 2025

Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis, is acquired by drinking water containing small water fleas infected with D. medinensis larvae or eating inadequately cooked aquatic animals. Efforts to eradicate D. medinensis, including the Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP), began at CDC in 1980. In 1986, with an estimated 3.5 million cases in 20 African and Asian countries, the World Health Assembly called for dracunculiasis elimination in specific geographic areas; this goal was later expanded to global eradication. GWEP has been led by The Carter Center since 1986 and is supported by countries with endemic dracunculiasis, CDC, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and other partners. During 1986-2023, human dracunculiasis cases decreased by >99%, from an estimated 3.5 million to 14 worldwide. Since 2012, environmental contamination from infected animals has posed a new challenge to eradication, as have ongoing civil unrest and insecurity in some areas. As of June 2025, indigenous dracunculiasis transmission was occurring in six countries (Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan). Fifteen human cases and 664 animal infections were reported in 2024, including 299 canine infections in Cameroon and 234 in Chad; during January-June 2025, one human case and 550 animal infections were reported. Animal infections and public health personnel's impeded access to the population due to civil unrest and insecurity in Mali, South Sudan, and Sudan threaten the near-term possibility of disease eradication. Nevertheless, countries and partners appear poised to reach zero human cases soon.