Where is Guinea worm disease found?
Except for a few remote villages in the Rajastan desert of India and in Yemen, Guinea worm disease now occurs only in Africa. Infected areas in Africa lie in a band between the Sahara and the equator. More than half of all cases of Guinea worm disease are reported from southern Sudan. Other countries with more than 1,000 cases each year are Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Mali, Uganda, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast. Smaller numbers of cases are reported from Mauritania, Ethiopia, Chad, Senegal, and Cameroon. Most cases occur in poor rural villages that are not visited by tourists. What are the signs and symptoms of Guinea worm disease? A few days to hours before the worm emerges, the person might develop a fever and have swelling and pain in the area where the worm is. A blister develops and then opens into a wound. When the wound is immersed in water, the worm begins to emerge. Most worms appear on the legs and feet, but they can occur anywhere on the body. After the worm emerges,
