Medical Press, Global eradication of Guinea worm disease urged as cases halved in 2021 to record low, written by Sanjeet Bagcchi, February 2, 2022 (link)
Guinea worm disease is a parasitic disease, which is caused by consuming water that is contaminated with Copepod fleas, typically in underdeveloped countries. Guinea worm disease may not be fatal, but it causes people to become non-functional for weeks to months at a time. While it can’t be treated, filtering the water can, and has been proven to, greatly reduce the number of cases. It affects animals, as well as humans, but these cases are also dropping as domestic dogs are being watched more closely.
I knew about parasites and how they could be caught from contaminated water, but I never knew about the prevalence of this condition in particular. I thought it was interesting, but also pretty gross. While reading this, I was sad that children had to endure this condition and its side effects, but I was happy to learn that these cases were dropping in both humans and animals. This is mostly due to the community’s ability to filter water, which is pretty fascinating. Ultimately, this topic is an environmental-related disease, which is why it fits into this category.
Eden- We are so lucky to not have to really think about water borne diseases. Articles like this remind us that it is still a big deal in lots of places. I would think at this stage of the game water filtration and education would be more widespread. It is good news cases are dropping. Sometimes the West can come into help poorer countries and it comes off as arrogant and is unwanted. What do you think- is this an area where the Western World can and should be intervening to help? You can imagine how bad it is for progress in those communities if people are getting sick all the time.
Hi Mr. Powell,
It’s true, we’re very lucky to not have to think about water. I think a lot of people take it for granted and haven’t been put in positions where they have to consider it from a conservation standpoint, whether that be about their personal conservation, or for the environment in general. While sharing resources can become a complex issue, I think it would be great if the western world helped in this field, considering water is a necessity.