Jul 11, 2024
Guinea worm infections have been plaguing mankind throughout
recorded history. The Carter Center took the lead in the guinea
worm eradication effort in the 1980’s, when there were over 3
million cases per year. Through concentrated effort, this disease
is on the brink of extinction, with only 14 human cases in
2023!
Adam Weiss, MPH, is the director of the Guinea Worm Eradication
Program at the Carter Center. microTalk caught up with Adam at the
ASM Microbe conference in Atlanta in a live session to discuss the
imminent extinction of guinea worm disease.
Weiss talks about how seeing the disease first-hand led to
President Carter’s and Weiss’ passion for eradication, how behavior
modification was key to guinea worm eradication, how a reservoir in
dogs affects eradication efforts, and how being in the Peace Corps
influenced his career path.
Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/yt7cDHZhThI
Participants:
- Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA).
- Adam Weiss, M.P.H. (Carter Center)
- Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA).
- Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA).