Guinea Worm Disease

guinea worm disease, also called dracunculiasis or dracontiasis, infection in humans caused by a parasite known as the guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis). The disease’s alternate name, dracunculiasis, is Latin for “affliction with little dragons,” which adequately describes the burning pain associated with the infection. Historically a fairly common disease, affecting millions of people each year in the Middle East, India, and Africa, it is now relatively rare, isolated to just a handful of countries in Africa. Death from guinea worm disease is infrequent; however, because it is debilitating, affected persons often have limited mobility and are unable to perform work.