Guinea worm eradication program in Borno state: The need for adopting appropriate intervention strategies

Abstract

The objective of this study is to update the status of Guinea worm and Eradication Program in Borno State and to demonstrate the effectiveness of adopting appropriate intervention strategies. The assessment of the prevalence of Dracunculus medinensis was carried out by active case search. Three hundred and ten thousand and ninety-two (310,092) residents were examined from 136,892 households spread across 148 villages. Residents were examined for guinea worm disease infection between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004. Diagnosis of cases was based on the World Health Organization case definitions: “an individual exhibiting or having a recent (about one year) history of a skin lesion with emergence of a guinea worm”. In addition, the Surveillance reports submitted to Global 2000 from 1995(the first target date for the eradication of guinea worm) to 2002 were reviewed alongside the data from this study. The result revealed that number of cases increased from 1995 (587) to 1998(2,063) and then declined to 195 in 2002. The results of the 2003/2004 survey showed that 34 (0.01%) out of the 310,092 individuals examined had emerging guinea worm. Also, 12(8.11%) out of the 148 villages surveyed were still endemic for the infection. Sex and age related distribution of infection revealed that 25(0.02%) out of 162,972 males and 9(0.01%) out of the 147,120 females examined were infected, while individuals within the age group 10-40 years were more affected (0.8%) among females and age group 11-20 (0.07%) in the male category were most affected. Farmers (0.02%) and Nomads (0.02%) had the highest prevalence rates of infection. The peak transmission period in the state was July through November. All the 34 (100%) cases appeared on the legs and feet. The success story of Guinea Eradication Program in Borno State without the provision of adequate potable water to every affected community demonstrates that the disease could be contained with or without potable water supply.

Keywords: Guinea worm; Dracunculus medinensis; eradication program; Nigeria

International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Vol. 2 (3) 2006: pp. 182-188