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).