#diseaseeradication

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. 

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.

Disease: Lymphatic filariasis

Disease agent: Three species of nematode worm: Wucheria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori 

The threat: About 120 million people are currently infected, with nearly 1.4 billion people in 73 countries under threat.

How infection spreads: Through mosquito bites, which transmit these worms’ larvae. The worms damage the lymphatic system, causing painful, disfiguring, and disabling swelling.

Defeating the disease: Drug treatment and bed nets can prevent transmission.

Eradication potential: Identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a candidate for eradication.

What does it take to wipe out a disease? Find out in the new exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, which opens on Tuesday, January 13. Today, we're highlighting River Blindness. 

Disease: River Blindness

Disease agent: Onchocerca volvulus worms

The threat: Occurs mainly in tropical areas; more than 99 percent of infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa.

How infection spreads: Through the bites of black flies. Worms reproduce under the skin, producing thousands of offspring that inflame the skin and cause blindness.

Defeating the disease: Drug treatment is critical; killing fly larvae in their breeding places also helps interrupt transmission.

Opening January 13, the new exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease documents the fight to eradicate human disease. In the days leading up to the opening, we’ll be featuring diseases highlighted in this exhibition. 

Disease: Guinea Worm

Disease agent: The parasitic worm Dracunculus medinensis

The threat: The number of cases has decreased by more than 99 percent since the 1980s, to 148 cases in 2013.

How infection spreads: Through drinking water, which contains microscopic crustacean hosts that carry worm larvae.

Defeating the disease: A concerted effort spearheaded by The Carter Center—educating and engaging communities in solutions to avoid contracting and spreading the disease, plus making available water-filtering tools—has brought the disease within sight of eradication.

Opening January 13, the new exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease documents the fight to eradicate human disease. In the days leading up to the opening, we’ll be featuring diseases highlighted in this exhibition. 

Disease: Polio

Disease agent: The poliovirus

The threat: Polio infections fell by more than 99 percent from 1988 to 2013 

How infection spreads: From person-to-person contact or through contaminated food or water.

Defeating the disease: Two vaccines—the Oral Polio Vaccine and Inactivated Polio Vaccine—have been in use for over 50 years, helping bring the number of cases world wide to all-time low in 2012.