ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2021
Community-based Guinea worm surveillance in Chad: Evaluating a system at the intersection of human and animal disease.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Concurrent therapeutic and behavioral interventions are associated with a reduced number of emerging Dracunculus medinensis worms in dogs in Chad.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Community-based surveillance system structures and knowledge level of community-based surveillance volunteers on priority diseases in Ghana.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Predicting the Environmental Suitability and Identifying Climate and Sociodemographic Correlates of Guinea Worm (Dracunculus medinensis) in Chad.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Participating in eradication: how Guinea worm redefined eradication, and eradication redefined Guinea worm, 1985-2022.Medical history · 2023Article
- Effectiveness of community-based burden estimation to achieve elimination of lymphatic filariasis: A comparative cross-sectional investigation in Côte d'Ivoire.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- Assessment of the Chad guinea worm surveillance information system: A pivotal foundation for eradication.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGuinea worm is a debilitating parasitic infection targeted for eradication. Annual human cases have dropped from approximately 3,500,000 in 1986 to 54 in 2019. Recent identification of canine cases in Chad threatens progress, and therefore detection, prevention, and containment of canine cases is a priority. We investigated associations between disease knowledge, community engagement, and canine cases in Chad to identify opportunities to improve active surveillance.
methodsWe surveyed 627 respondents (villagers, local leaders, community volunteers, and supervisors) across 45 villages under active surveillance. Descriptive statistics were analyzed by respondent category. Logistic regression models were fitted to assess the effects of volunteer visit frequency on villager knowledge.
resultsKnowledge increased with respondents' associations with the Guinea worm program. Household visit frequency by community volunteers was uneven: 53.0% of villagers reported visits at least twice weekly and 21.4% of villagers reported never being visited. Villagers visited by a volunteer at least twice weekly had better knowledge of Guinea worm symptoms (OR: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.04-2.79) and could name more prevention strategies (OR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.32-3.15) than villagers visited less frequently. The primary motivation to report was to facilitate care-seeking for people with Guinea worm. Knowledge of animal "containment" to prevent contamination of water, knowledge of rewards for reporting animal cases, and ability to name any reasons to report Guinea worm were each positively correlated with village canine case counts.
conclusionsCommunity volunteers play crucial roles in educating their neighbors about Guinea worm and facilitating surveillance. Additional training and more attentive management of volunteers and supervisors could increase visit frequency and further amplify their impact. Emphasizing links between animal and human cases, the importance of animal containment, and animal rewards might improve surveillance and canine case detection. The surveillance system should be evaluated routinely to expand generalizability of data and monitor changes over time.
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