Guinea Worm Disease

Dracunculus medinensis is a nematode that causes guinea worm disease (also known as dracunculiasis). They usually eat vertebrates and the tissue of the host which makes it a heterotroph. They can only reproduce if there is a copepod (intermediate host) and water. During the reproductive stage, the male and female are the same size. Later on, the female with grow larger than the male. Fun fact: The male will die two months after mating. The female will carry millions of embryos but only a few thousand will be released as larva into the water to find a copepod.

(Taken from Google Images)

This parasite enters humans when they drink unfiltered water containing nematodes. The larvae inside of the copepods (after they die) enter the host’s stomach where they will develop and duplicate. The worm moves to the skin, creates and blister and releases larvae on the surface of the skin. It will live inside of host for at least a year but will affect the host a couple months after emerging. If the human host puts his or her foot into water (assuming the host is infected), the larvae will go out into the water where they will be taken in by other copepods. From there, the larvae will infect the copepod. Once a human drinks the unfiltered water, the cycle starts back again.

The worm outside of a human’s foot:

(Taken from Google Images)

Life Cycle:

(Taken from the CDC site on Dracunculus medinensis)

General information  dracunculus medinesis from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9GvCs5E3yc