"The World’s Last Worm: A Dreaded Disease Nears Eradication" [View all]

[hedgehog]

A dreaded tropical disease is on the verge of eradication

A parasite that has plagued the human race since antiquity is poised to become the second human disease after smallpox to be eradicated. “We are approaching the demise of the last guinea worm who will ever live on earth,” says former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center has spearheaded the eradication effort.

So far the efforts have resulted in a 99 percent reduction in infections, says Sharon Roy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1986 there were 3.5 million cases, as compared with only 1,060 in 2011 and a mere five as of the first few months of 2012.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=last-worm-tropical-disease-near-eradication


This is incredible, absolutely fantastic good news! Bravo, Jimmy Carter!