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Looking
at the pictures in the well drilling slide show, you will see E-Coli
and Guinea Worm (Dracunculiasis) infested water supplies - the only
drinking water most villages have. You will also see people who are
suffering from the ill effects of Guinea Worms, a devastating
parasite. Guinea Worms are found in all open, stagnant water sources in
Ghana, West Africa. Every single person in a village that uses water
from contaminated ponds will get Guinea Worms.
A Guinea
Worm, first swallowed by a "Cyclops" or water flea,
transforms into a third stage larvae. The Cyclops, ingested by a
human being, are consumed by the stomach's juices and the larvae of
the Guinea Worm are released. They remain in the stomach for up to
three months. After mating, the male dies and the female bores through the
body making her way to the extremities, usually the lower leg or
foot, but she can go to any part of the body. Once settled, just
under the skin, she begins to grow, by eating the flesh
of her carrier, into a three to five foot long worm. This worm
is about as big around as a
piece of spaghetti. While growing, she causes severe pain and
cripples the carrier, so that they are not able to work. These are
simple subsistence farmers. Pain hinders their farming, causing
them to survive on less and keeps their family from eating! As
the worm matures, a painful blister appears on the skin of the
carrier. When the person puts the affected part of the
body in water, the blister breaks and hundreds of thousands of tiny
first stage larvae are released into the water. The adult female
worm then comes slowly out of the body, of its carrier, through the
sore made by the broken blister. It usually takes several weeks for
the worm to completely exit the body. People, having no choice, drink the newly infested water, ingest the worm and the entire cycle begins once again. No matter how often people are infected they do not become immune to the Guinea Worm. Both young and old alike are subject to this dreaded parasite. |