Guinea worm closer to eradication as cases halve in a year

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A new report says just over two dozen people in the world are infected with Guinea worm, and community programs are close to eradicating the disease in which a meter-long worm slowly emerges from a blister in a person’s skin. The U.S.-based Carter Center, which leads the eradication campaign, says just 27 cases were reported in 2020 in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa, or half the number of cases in 2019. Guinea worm is poised to be the second human disease to be eradicated after smallpox.