Ethiopia Eyes To Be Guinea-Worm Free This Year

An Ethiopian official said Saturday that his country is seeking to be a guinea-worm free country by the end of this year.



"We are 90 percent confident that guinea-worm would not reappear in Ethiopia," Amenu Shiferaw, coordinator of the national Guinea-Worm Education Program, told The Anadolu Agency.



He said no single case of guinea-worm has been registered during this year's rainy season in Ethiopia.



"We have been maintaining a community-based surveillance system since 1991," he said.



Under the system, rewards are given to people giving information about guinea-worm cases in the Horn of Africa country.



According to the system, a $100 reward is given to people providing information about guinea-worm cases and a $50 reward for information leading to infected people.



"The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Carter Center are providing financial support in the efforts of the country to eradicate guinea-worm," Shiferaw said.



"Highly experienced technicians drawn from different countries are working with us to eradicate guinea-worm," he added.



In 2014, Ethiopia registered three guinea-worm cases.



"Guinea-worm is not only indigenous but it comes from neighboring countries," particularly South Sudan," Shiferaw said.



Five localities in Gambella and South Ethiopia Peoples' Regional States are high risk guinea-worm areas in Ethiopia.



"We have requested the WHO to confirm that Ethiopia is a guinea-worm free country," he said.



"External experts are expected to evaluate and declare Ethiopia as a guinea-worm free country," he added.



Guinea-worm disease is caused by round-worm parasite contracted when people drink water from stagnant sources – contaminated by guinea-worm larvae.



Other African countries that reported guinea-worm cases in 2014 were South Sudan, Chad and Mali.



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