ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2020
Population genomic evidence that human and animal infections in Africa come from the same populations of Dracunculus medinensis.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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18 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Flubendazole reduces emerging Dracunculus medinensis in dogs in Chad: Results from a two-year study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Flubendazole 2.0: Designing a large field trial in dogs for a challenging setting.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Evaluating wildlife community composition around villages with varying Guinea worm (International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2025Article
- Enrichment of Helminth Mitochondrial Genomes From Faecal Samples Using Hybridisation Capture.Molecular ecology resources · 2025Article
- A population genetic analysis of the nematodeProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Global diversity of soil-transmitted helminths reveals population-biased genetic variation that impacts diagnostic targets.Nature communications · 2025Article
- A Review on the Epidemiology and Clinical Management of Neglected Tropical Diseases.Infectious disorders drug targets · 2025Review
- Assessing the performance of TRX and DUF148 antigens for detection of prepatent Guinea worm (Frontiers in parasitology · 2025Article
- Slaying the Serpent: A Research Agenda to Expand Intervention Development and Accelerate Guinea Worm Eradication Efforts.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- The parasitic nematode Strongyloides ratti exists predominantly as populations of long-lived asexual lineages.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Progress Toward Global Eradication of Dracunculiasis - Worldwide, January 2021-June 2022.MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report · 2022Article
- Guinea Worm Disease: A Neglected Diseases on the Verge of Eradication.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2022Review
- Development and validation of a quantitative PCR for the detection of Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis).PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Integrating genomic and epidemiologic data to accelerate progress toward schistosomiasis elimination.eLife · 2022Review
- Environmental Persistence of the World's Most Burdensome Infectious and Parasitic Diseases.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
- Linked surveillance and genetic data uncovers programmatically relevant geographic scale of Guinea worm transmission in Chad.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- New global targets for NTDs in the WHO roadmap 2021-2030.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Dogs and the classic route of Guinea Worm transmission: an evaluation of copepod ingestion.Scientific reports · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
24 authors at 8 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGuinea worm-Dracunculus medinensis-was historically one of the major parasites of humans and has been known since antiquity. Now, Guinea worm is on the brink of eradication, as efforts to interrupt transmission have reduced the annual burden of disease from millions of infections per year in the 1980s to only 54 human cases reported globally in 2019. Despite the enormous success of eradication efforts to date, one complication has arisen. Over the last few years, hundreds of dogs have been found infected with this previously apparently anthroponotic parasite, almost all in Chad. Moreover, the relative numbers of infections in humans and dogs suggests that dogs are currently the principal reservoir on infection and key to maintaining transmission in that country. PRINCIPAL
findingsIn an effort to shed light on this peculiar epidemiology of Guinea worm in Chad, we have sequenced and compared the genomes of worms from dog, human and other animal infections. Confirming previous work with other molecular markers, we show that all of these worms are D. medinensis, and that the same population of worms are causing both infections, can confirm the suspected transmission between host species and detect signs of a population bottleneck due to the eradication efforts. The diversity of worms in Chad appears to exclude the possibility that there were no, or very few, worms present in the country during a 10-year absence of reported cases.
conclusionsThis work reinforces the importance of adequate surveillance of both human and dog populations in the Guinea worm eradication campaign and suggests that control programs aiming to interrupt disease transmission should stay aware of the possible emergence of unusual epidemiology as pathogens approach elimination.
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