Classification: ICD-9 125.7; ICD-10 B72
Syndromes and synonyms: Guinea worm disease, Medina worm disease, Pharaoh worm disease, serpent worm disease, dracontiasis.
Agent: Dracunculus medinensis, a nematode roundworm. The longest adult female recorded is 80 cm, and adult male 40 cm.
Reservoir: Humans.
Vector: Cyclops spp., microscopic copepods (crustaceans) commonly known as water fleas.
Transmission: By ingestion of infected copepods, usually with drinking water.
Cycle: Human–copepod–human. Adult female worm expels larvae through a hole in the skin of the leg or foot of an infected person into stagnant water where they are ingested by the vectors. The larvae become infectious in 2 weeks and when the vectors are ingested and digested, the larvae are freed and migrate into the subcutaneous tissue of the abdomen and thorax. There they mature into adults. Larvae are shed for 2–3 weeks, are viable in water for up to 5 days, and develop in the copepod for 2 weeks.
Incubation period: About 12 months (10 to 18 months).
Clinical findings
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