Dracunculiasis: an eradicable scourge.

As an incapacitating disease which has a direct negative effect on the self-sufficiency of rural populations in parts of Asia and Africa, dracunculiasis is a serious, but neglected, hindrance to economic development. It is the only communicable disease that is transmitted solely by drinking contaminated water. Several intervention measures have been shown to be effective in reducing or interrupting transmission, the most effective of which is provision of safe drinking water. Its vulnerability to well planned control measures has been demonstrated in India, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, the Soviet Union, and elsewhere. The International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990) presents an unparalleled opportunity to eradicate dracunculiasis, and linking the Decade and an effort to eradicate dracunculiasis would be mutually beneficial. Additional epidemiologic studies to document further the economic impact of the disease on affected populations, the changes in incidence which result when effective interventions are made, and the role of subgroups in affected villages as transmitters of the infection, would be very useful in the struggle to eradicate another scourge of mankind.