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1 1 For the first time in history, a major disease might soon be eliminated without
the use of drugs. The Carter Center, an organization run by former US President
Jimmy Carter, has predicted that the Guinea worm disease will be the first
parasitic disease to be eradicated and the first disease to be eradicated without
5 the use of vaccines or medical treatment. The Guinea worm is a parasite, which
is an organism or creature that lives on or in another organism or creature. People
get Guinea worm disease by drinking dirty, contaminated water. After drinking
contaminated water, the worms grow in the body for abouta year.
Once they
have grown, they emerge slowly from the body often around the foot area.
| 10 It can take weeks for the worm to fully emerge. And during this time, the
victim is in great pain, making it almost impossible for the victim to work,
move around or go about their lives.
|2 But the Guinea worm can now only be found in a few African countries, thanks
to a 22-year fight against the disease led by the Carter Center. Carter was moved
15 when he saw its victims in Africa. "It was a horrible disease, almost indescribably
bad. It was an ancient disease and it didn't seem to have any solution. It was
almost an impossible problem, so that's why we decided to try to solve it."
