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ATLANTA (AP) — Officials with The Carter Center in Atlanta said this week that 22 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide in 2015, down from 126 cases during the previous year.
The human rights organization founded by former President Jimmy Carter in 1986 began targeting the painful parasitic disease for eradication. At that time, an estimated 3.5 million cases occurred annually worldwide.
The 2015 figures announced this week include cases in four African countries: Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan.
In a statement included with the latest report, Carter said the organization is committed to preventing the disease from affecting future generations. The disease is a top priority for the former president, who playfully told reporters that he hoped to outlive the last Guinea worm after revealing a cancer diagnosis in August. Carter has since said that doctors found no signs of cancer in a December brain scan.
"As we get closer to zero, each case (of Guinea worm) takes on increasing importance," Carter said in the statement. "Full surveillance must continue in the few remaining endemic nations and neighboring countries until no cases remain to ensure the disease does not return."
Dr. Don Hopkins, special adviser for Guinea worm eradication at the center, said its goal of eradicating the disease "feels very close." South Sudan and Mali reported single-digit cases despite political turbulence, war and already poor infrastructure that could have defeated workers' efforts, he said.
But those working on the issue remain cautious. Guinea worm is a disease that doesn't appear until a year after people become infected by drinking water containing the larvae.
A worm grows inside the human body, emerging later through painful blisters on the skin and there is no vaccine or medical treatment to prevent it. Instead, public health organizations teach people to filter their water — and in some countries, cook fish properly and prevent dogs from eating raw fish that may also contain the larvae.
Small mistakes can lead to outbreaks of dozens of cases, Hopkins said.
"We know it's not over until we have zero cases," he said. "At the same time we're very happy and celebrating, we are wary and worried that any mistake last year could be that much more difficult."
Smallpox is the only human disease to be declared eradicated by the World Health Organization.
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