South Sudan: no new cases of dracunculiasis for five consecutive months

WHO donates vehicle and bicycles to boost surveillance

8 May 2015
Departmental update
Geneva
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Sustained efforts to interrupt transmission of dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) by the end of 2015 in South Sudan have produced excellent results, with zero cases reported for the past 5 months.

“Improved access to endemic regions and sustained, active surveillance have greatly contributed to this dramatic drop in the transmission of guinea-worm disease in South Sudan” said Dr Dieudonné Sankara, acting Team Leader of WHO’s dracunculiasis eradication unit.

A cash reward system introduced in April 2014 is the latest measure introduced to bolster the South Sudan National Guinea-Worm Programme’s ability to respond to rumours.

“From January to March this year, we have investigated 2,994 rumours and suspected cases – and we have responded to all of them within 24 hours” said Samuel Makoy, Director of the South Sudan Guinea-Worm Eradication Programme. “Thirty-four suspected specimens have been sent for laboratory analysis. We have received results for 18; so far none has been confirmed for South Sudan.”

From January to April this year, only 3 confirmed cases have been reported to WHO – all of them from Chad, where an unusual disease epidemiology has been reported in the canine population, with several dogs harbouring worms genetically identical to those occurring in humans.

In 2014, South Sudan reported the highest number of cases –70 in all – compared with three countries where there is ongoing transmission: Chad (13), Ethiopia (3) and Mali (40).

A total of 126 cases were reported for the whole of 2014.

In a separate development, WHO donated 12 vehicles and 288 bicycles to the South Sudan Ministry of Health in April 2015. One of the vehicles and 75 of the bicycles will add to the national programme’s existing fleet, with the aim of improving case-containment and surveillance activities in this crucial phase when case numbers keep decreasing.

During the mid-1980s, there were an estimated 3.5 million dracunculiasis cases in 20 countries, 16 of which were in Africa. The number of reported cases declined throughout the 1990s to reach fewer than 10 000 cases in 2007, dropping further to 1797 in 2010, 1058 in 2011, 542 in 2012 and 148 in 2013.

Since 1995, WHO has certified 198 countries, territories and areas (belonging to 186 Member States) as free of dracunculiasis transmission.

As of 2015, only 8 countries remain to be certified.