Once in the millions, Guinea worm cases numbered 13 in 2023, Carter Center’s initial count says

By The Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Guinea worm disease remains on the cusp of being eradicated, with the global number of cases in 2023 holding steady at 13, according to a provisional account released by The Carter Center. A final count will be confirmed in the coming months. But the initial count matches the confirmed number of human cases in 2022, after 15 were recorded in 2021. Global cases numbered about 3.5 million in 1986, when former President Jimmy Carter announced that his post-White House Carter Center would prioritize eradication of the parasitic disease that affected developing nations in Africa and Asia. Guinea worm would become the second human disease to be eradicated. Smallpox was the first.