Dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea worm disease, is one of 3 diseases targeted for eradication by the World Health Assembly. Dracunculiasis will become the second human disease and first parasitic infection to be eradicated.
Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) is characterized by a debilitating and painful burning skin lesion from which the Dracunculus medinensis parasite emerges 12-14 months after infection usually resulting from consumption of unsafe stagnant drinking water containing parasite-infected copepods (Cyclops spp. also called water fleas).
The global campaign to eradicate Guinea Worm, through country-centered, and community-based interventions has decreased the burden of disease from an estimated 3.5 million cases in 1986 in 20 countries, to only 13 human cases in 2022 reported in 4 countries. However, since 2012, Dracunculus medinensis infection in domestic dogs and later in domestic cats and baboons continues to pose a challenge to the global eradication campaign.
The clinical presentation of dracunculiasis is so typical, and well known to the local population. Dracunculiasis diagnosis is based on the typical appearance of a skin lesion with a protruding worm, commonly on a lower limb.
Occasionally, pieces of connective tissue, other parasitic worms such as Onchocerca volvulus and sparganum, or fly larvae could be confused with emerging Dracunculus medinensis worms. Laboratory confirmation of GW is conducted using microscopy and PCR analysis.
Currently, there is no vaccine or medicine to prevent or threat Guinea worm.
Due to the challenges posed by the infection of Guinea worm in animals at this very last stage of the eradication campaign, diagnostic test for prepatent Guinea worm, or a test to detect Guinea worm presence in the environment to anticipate programme interventions will be a game changer in speeding up a global eradication of the parasite.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is asking for feedback on these two TPPs. Feedback is invited from experts in the industry, product development, parasitologists, the scientific community, NTD programme personnel and other technicians involved directly or indirectly in the fight against NTDs.
Details of the TPP may be found in the linked documents.
- TPP1 and its comments document
- TPP2 and its comments document
Any proposed revisions during this public consultation will be considered by the WHO Technical Advisory Group for NTD Diagnostics (DTAG) specific subgroup. The final TPP will be posted in a dedicated WHO website.
Please download and use the feedback form to provide your comments on the draft TPP. Submit it to neglected.diseases@who.int with copy to Dieudonné P. Sankara (sankarad@who.int) by email with the subject line “Comments on GW diagnostic TPP”.