#countdown2zero

The Museum’s current exhibition, Countdown to Zero, looks at the scientific and social innovations that are ridding the world of ancient diseases, such as Guinea worm, which once afflicted millions, and will soon be gone for good. 

What Is Guinea Worm? A parasite that enters the human body in contaminated drinking water, grows for almost a year and emerges through a burning blister in the skin.


Symptoms: Symptoms begin just before the worm starts to emerge from the blister. Victims suffer intense pain, often accompanied by bacterial infection and inability to walk.


Can It Be Eradicated? Yes. With no medical cure or vaccine, eradication will be achieved by interrupting the life cycle of the parasite through education, community empowerment, and low-tech interventions like water filtration.


Status: On track for ERADICATION

Today, it was announced that three scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering therapies that have revolutionized the treatment of some of the most devastating parasitic diseases. Via the New York Times: 

William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura won for developing a new drug, Avermectin. A derivative of that drug, Ivermectin, has nearly eradicated river blindness and radically reduced the incidence of filariasis, which causes the disfiguring swelling of the lymph system in the legs and lower body known as elephantiasis. They shared the $900,000 award with Youyou Tu, who discovered Artemisinin, a drug that has significantly reduced death rates from malaria.

“These two discoveries have provided humankind with powerful new means to combat these debilitating diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people annually,” the Nobel committee said in a statement. “The consequences in terms of improved human health and reduced suffering are immeasurable.”

The Museum’s current exhibition, Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, explores the innovations behind disease eradication, and pays special attention to river blindness, malaria, and lymphatic filariasis. 

What Is River Blindness? A debilitating human disease caused by small thread-like nematodes (roundworms) and spread by black flies.

Symptoms: Intense itching, various skin rashes and blindness. One such rash is known as “leopard skin.”

Can It Be Eradicated? River blindness is not currently eradicable, but because the worms infect only humans, the disease can be eliminated in certain regions through annual or semi-annual treatment with the drug ivermectin.

Status: Nearly eliminated in the Americas; on track for ELIMINATION in many parts of Africa.

Learn more about river blindness.

What Is Malaria? A deadly disease caused by single-celled parasites from the genus Plasmodium and spread by female anopheline mosquitoes.

Symptoms: Fever, chills, headache, vomiting and other severe flu-like symptoms. Severe malaria can lead to brain injury and death if not treated quickly.


Can It Be Eradicated? Not currently. But because malaria parasites infect only humans, eradication is theoretically possible. 


Status: Malaria has been eliminated in the U.S. and many European countries. Control and elimination programs are ongoing in other parts of the world.

Learn more about malaria. 

What Is LF? A crippling disease spread by mosquitoes and caused by thread-like nematode worms that block the lymphatic system.

Symptoms: Chronic fever along with swelling and deformity of limbs and genitalia (elephantiasis).

Can It Be Eradicated? Because the Wucheria bancrofti worms infect only humans, some experts believe that global eradication is possible using a combination of bed nets and mass drug administration.

Status: On track for ELIMINATION in many countries.

Former President Jimmy Carter stopped by the Museum for the opening of Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, and exhibition about the challenges of disease eradication, produced in collaboration with The Carter Center. 

Spotted at the Museum: A Guinea worm hiding in plain sight!

The new exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease highlights The Carter Center’s 30-year campaign to eradicate the Guinea worm, the parasite responsible for the age-old affliction dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease.

As the Museum prepared for the exhibition’s opening, Lauri Halderman, senior director of exhibition interpretation, spotted the parasite in an unexpected place—carved into the surface of an elephant tusk on display in the Hall of African Peoples.

“I have stopped and looked at that tusk dozens of times over the course of many years,” says Halderman. “It’s a spectacular artifact. But of course that particular detail never before registered. It’s only because we were all working on the Guinea worm exhibition that I noticed it at all.”

The elaborate carving features depictions of Congolese peoples’ suffering at the hands of Portuguese slave traders. But one detail may illustrate healing, albeit of a painful sort. One tableau on the tusk, according to Museum scientists in Invertebrate Zoology and Anthropology, appears to show a Congolese traditional healer extracting a Guinea worm from the foot of a sitting patient while a bystander places a comforting hand on top of the patient’s head—a scene that’s remarkably similar to the way Guinea worm disease is treated today.

Disease: Malaria

Disease agent: Plasmodium parasites

The threat: Though preventable and curable, malaria continues to infect hundreds of millions annually across about 100 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

How infection spreads: Through the bites of female Anopheles mosquitoes; there are numerous species of Anopheles around the world.

Defeating the disease: Widespread use of insecticidal bed nets has been successful in stopping transmission, and vaccines are in development. Genetically engineering mosquitoes is another approach that is being considered.

Eradication potential: Malaria has been eliminated in certain regions, while for others, control may be the most effective short-term approach.

Guinea worm, a painful parasite that once affected millions of people each year, may soon be relegated to the past. Yesterday at the Museum, former President Jimmy Carter announced that thanks to improved health education and community efforts, only 126 cases were reported in 2014. This case study, created for the American Museum of Natural History exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, reveals how health workers and epidemiologists track guinea worm’s spread in an effort to eliminate the disease permanently.