Jimmy Carter: Guinea worm cases down to 25 from 3.5 million

BC-US–Jimmy Carter-Guinea Worm
Carter: Guinea Worm disease reported in 3 countries in 2016
By The Associated Press

Former President Jimmy Carter, who has been working for years to eradicate Guinea worm disease, says there were only 25 human cases of the illness reported worldwide in 2016.

The former president said that when The Carter Center joined the battle to eliminate Guinea worm disease in the mid-1980s, there were about 3.5 million cases in 21 countries.

At a news conference Wednesday at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Carter said that for the first time, Mali reported no cases of the tropical disease.

Carter said last year’s numbers show that the disease remained in just three countries: Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

The number of cases in 2016 was up slightly from 2015, when 22 cases were reported in four countries: Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan.

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1/11/2017 11:55:13 AM (GMT -5:00)