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Volume 356:2561-2564 June 21, 2007 Number 25 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Guinea worm disease, or dracunculiasis — Latin for "affliction with little dragons" — is a plague so ancient that it has been found in Egyptian mummies and has been proposed by some to have been the "fiery serpent" described in the Old Testament as torturing the Israelites in the desert. The global Dracunculiasis Eradication Program spearheaded by former President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center has now reached its final stages (see graph). This accomplishment is unprecedented — the only disease previously eradicated was smallpox, not a parasitic disease — and it has been achieved through grassroots public health . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

Dr. Barry is a professor of medicine and global health at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.

An interview with Jimmy Carter and Donald Hopkins is available at www.nejm.org.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• HOPKINS, D. R., RICHARDS, F. O. JR., RUIZ-TIBEN, E., EMERSON, P., CRAIG WITHERS, P. JR. (2008). Dracunculiasis, Onchocerciasis, Schistosomiasis, and Trachoma. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1136: 45-52 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Reddy, M., Gill, S. S., Kalkar, S. R., Wu, W., Anderson, P. J., Rochon, P. A. (2007). Oral Drug Therapy for Multiple Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Systematic Review. JAMA 298: 1911-1924 [Abstract] [Full Text]