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Just 14 cases: Guinea worm disease nears eradication

A scourge that once infected millions of the world’s poorest people is close to being wiped out in humans — but infections in animals complicates the picture.
  1. Freda Kreier
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While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around the world, another disease could be on its way out. Only 14 cases of infection with Guinea worm — a parasite that causes painful skin lesions — were reported in humans in 2021.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00385-z

Updates & Corrections

  • Clarification 15 February 2022: When the photograph in this story was taken, the location was in Sudan. It is now in South Sudan; the caption has been updated to make this clear.

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