Only two countries recorded human cases of guinea worm disease in 2024

Guinea worm is an incredibly painful and debilitating disease; one that’s hard to imagine unless you’ve seen someone suffer from it.

As we explain in a dedicated article, it’s caused by the guinea worm parasite, whose larvae can be found in stagnant water. Drinking contaminated water lets the larvae enter the stomach and intestines. These grow into adult worms, getting into their joints and causing arthritic conditions, before emerging painfully through the skin.

The good news is that the world is extremely close to eradicating this disease. In 1989, more than 890,000 human cases were recorded globally, compared to only 15 in 2024.

As you can see in the map, these cases were recorded in just two countries: Chad and South Sudan.

There are three other countries — Ethiopia, Angola, and Mali — where guinea worm is still endemic (meaning it’s still considered present there), but they reported no new cases in 2024.

Here, we focus on guinea worm cases in humans, but it’s important to note that other animals — such as domestic dogs — can also be infected. This adds further challenges to eradicating the disease completely.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Our World in Data. “Only two countries recorded human cases of guinea worm disease in 2024” by Hannah Ritchie, Fiona Spooner, published by Our World in Data under CC BY 4.0. Changed here: set as a page, its interactive charts shown as pictures. Data from third parties keeps its own licence.

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