Common Name(s):
Guinea Worm Disease
Alternative Names & Classifications:
Dracunculiasis (CLINICAL)
Description
Humans ingest water fleas infected with Guinea worm larvae, which mature and mate inside the host's abdomen over a year. The gravid female, often measuring up to a meter long, then migrates to the skin surface to forcefully emerge and release eggs into water sources. It currently affects extremely isolated rural communities with limited access to safe drinking water.