Report of an Outbreak of Dracunculiasis in Ethiopia

Abstract

An outbreak of dracunculiasis occurred in north-west Eritrea in mid 1969, resulting in 58 documented and 40 suspected human cases. Although the infective agent could not be traced to the suspected well in Keru, perhaps because the water was treated before being examined, strong circumstantial epidemiologic evidence clearly pointed to this well as the sole common infective source. Further, the manner in which water was taken from this well permitted that kind of contamination required to complete the life-cycle of D. medinensis; larvae could reach water infested with Cyclops spp. This was not true of the water sources in Agordat. Thiabendazole may well be a useful drug in the treatment of guinea worm infections in man, but its efficacy was not demonstrated in this study.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1971
Accession Number
AD0753295

Entities

People

  • David R. Ten Eyck

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biomedical Research
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Ethiopia
  • Health
  • Health Services
  • Helminthiasis
  • Hospitals
  • Infection
  • Life Cycles
  • New York
  • Parasitic Diseases
  • Public Health
  • Water
  • Water Supplies
  • Water Wells
  • Worms
  • Wound Infections

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Theoretical Analysis.
  • Virology (or Medical Virology).