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Dracunculiasis: An Emerging Challenge of A Neglected Tropical Helminthic Zoonosis
Volume 11| Issue 2 | December 2025
AUTHOR(S)
Mahendra Pal, Surajit Baidya, Aida Vafae Eslahi, Milad Badri, Sujatha Singh

ABSTRACT

Helminthic zoonoses are a significant source of morbidity and mortality in humans as well as in animals. These diseases are prevalent in developing and developed nations of the world resulting in public health and economic concern. Dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea-worm disease, is a helminthic zoonosis that is caused by the nematode Dracunculus medinensis, which affects primarily the humans and occasionally animals. It has long been a debilitating parasitic disease in rural, underserved regions where access to safe drinking water is limited. Once affecting millions annually across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the disease is now on the brink of eradication, with only a handful of human cases per year globally. Transmission occurs when humans (and increasingly animals) ingest water containing infected copepods (water fleas) or possibly aquatic transport hosts, leading to larvae migration, maturation, and eventual emergence of adult female worms through the skin roughly 10–14 months later. Symptoms are painful, incapacitating, and often associated with secondary bacterial infections; no vaccine or routine anthelmintic treatment exists. Control and eradication efforts have relied on a combination of safe-water access, water-filtering, larvicide application, surveillance, case containment, and recently, animal‐reservoir management under a One Health framework. While human cases have declined dramatically from millions to double‐digits annually, animal infections (notably in domestic dogs) now pose a major challenge. The detection of disease in dogs indicates that it should be considered as a reverse zoonosis. Hitherto, there is no conclusive evidence of direct transmission of D. medinensis infection from animals to humans. This paper reviews the lifecycle, clinical presentation, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control of dracunculiasis, and discusses the implications of emerging zoonotic pathways for the final push toward eradication.

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DOI
https://www.doi.org/10.62418/ijvph.11.2.2025.1-7
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*Corresponding author’s email ID: palmahendra2@gmail.com
Citation: Pal M, Baidya S, Eslahi AV, Badri M, Singh S. Dracunculiasis: An Emerging Challenge of a Neglected Tropical Helminthic Zoonosis. Indian Journal of Veterinary Public Health. 2025; 11(2): 1-7.
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.62418/ijvph.11.2.2025.1-7