It is the final week of the temporary schedule, next week The Nightly Show will follow The Daily Show and I can't wait. Tonight's guest on The Daily Show is President Jimmy Carter. The panelists on @Midnight are Marc Maron, Jen Kirkman, and John Hodgman.
Jimmy Carter was the 39
th President of the United States, in office from 1977 to 1981. Since that time he has been involved in many humanitarian projects including the project through the Carter Center that he will be discussing tonight, an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History titled
Countdown to Zero.
To date we’ve eradicated only one human disease: smallpox. But dedicated health workers around the globe are closing in on others. Guinea worm, which once afflicted millions, will soon be gone for good. And efforts are underway to wipe out or control polio, malaria, lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness.
It won’t be easy, but through research, international cooperation, health education—and sheer determination—the suffering caused by these diseases may soon be a distant memory.
“The number of cases of Guinea worm disease continued decreasing in 2014, bringing Guinea worm eradication closer to the finish line,” Carter said Monday at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, which will open a new exhibition, entitled Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, on Tuesday.
“We believe eradication of Guinea worm disease is very possible in the next few years, but success will require the strong commitment and focus of the four remaining endemic countries and the many international partners in this public health initiative,” the former president noted.
Just 126 cases of GWD were reported in 2014, down from more than 3.5 million in 1986 when the Carter Center first spearheaded an international effort to eradicate the water-borne parasite.
“Guinea worm disease is set to become the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated. It will be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated and the first disease to be eradicated without the use of a vaccine or medicine,” according to the center.
In 1991, 23,735 villages in 21 countries in Africa and Asia had residents who were infected with Guinea worms.
“As of the end of 2014, there were only 30 endemic villages in four countries — all in Africa,” the Carter Center reported. A total of 70 cases of GWD were reported in South Sudan, 40 in Mali, 13 in Chad, and 3 in Ethiopia, representing a 99.9 percent decrease since 1986.
An estimated $350 million, much of it raised from private donors, has been spent over the past two decades on low-tech eradication efforts, including cash rewards for voluntary reporting of cases, teaching villagers in areas with Guinea worm infestations to filter their drinking water, and not allowing victims with swelling or wounds from emerging worms to contaminate community water sources.
The Carter Center notes that Guinea worms have been around since at least 1450 B.C. The Old Testament referred to them as “the fiery serpent” and their pustules have been found on the skin of Egyptian mummies. The caduceus, a snake wrapped around a stick that is the symbol of the medical profession, is believed to represent a Guinea worm.
Traditional extraction methods include winding the still-alive worms around a stick or piece of moistened gauze for up to two weeks because yanking them out can trigger an intense inflammatory reaction or a dangerous, life-threatening infection.
caduceus
Victims typically try to ease the intense burning sensation caused by the emerging worm by immersing their affected limbs in local bodies of water that are also used for drinking.
However, since water stimulates the adult female Guinea worm to release up to three million larvae, this practice continues the cycle of contamination. There are no preventive vaccines or drugs to treat an infestation, although the adult worms can be surgically removed.
President Carter: Guinea Worms on Verge of Eradication Worldwide
This is amazingly good news. Guinea worms are like something out of a horror movie and the eradication of guinea worm disease is an incredible milestone.
Tonight on
@Midnight,
Marc Maron,
Jen Kirkman, and
John Hodgman.
This Week's Schedule
THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART
Tu 1/13: Sen. Marco Rubio
We 1/14: Julianne Moore
Th 1/15: Sienna Miller
@MIDNIGHT
Tu 1/13: Doug Benson, Hari Kondabolu, Grace Helbig
We 1/14: Ari Shaffir, Nick Swardson
Th 1/15: Whitney Cummings, Neal Brennan, Jeff Ross
It was beautiful outside on Friday, for a little while.