Associated Press: Guinea worm disease transmission stopped in South Sudan
“South Sudan has gone 15 months without a single reported case of Guinea worm disease, the nation’s health minister said Wednesday, suggesting a major victory for global health officials trying to eliminate the painful affliction…” (Nadler, 3/21).

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Carter Center: South Sudan stops transmission of Guinea worm disease
“… ‘This is a great achievement for our young nation,’ South Sudan Health Minister Dr. Riek Gai Kok said at a press conference during the the global Guinea Worm Eradication Program’s 22nd annual review at the Carter Center in Atlanta. ‘Today, the dream has come true’…” (Vejnoska, 3/21).

CNN: South Sudan reaches milestone in eradicating debilitating Guinea worm
“…Former President Jimmy Carter’s organization has led global efforts in eradicating Guinea worm. … Guinea worm is set to become only the second human disease in history to be eradicated, after smallpox was vanquished in 1980. But unlike smallpox, Guinea worm is a parasitic disease and cannot be treated with vaccines. It requires enormous lifestyle changes, education and diligence. Given those challenges and the unrest South Sudan has seen since it gained independence in 2011, the Guinea worm announcement is monumental…” (Basu, 3/21).

NPR: ‘Amazing’ News About The Awful Guinea Worm
“…The country reported zero cases in 2017 and hasn’t had a case in 15 months. There are also no signs Guinea worm is circulating in dogs in South Sudan, as it is in Chad and Mali. … Back in the mid-80s, more than three million people were catching the parasite each year. Now Guinea worm is circulating in only three countries: Ethiopia, Mali, and Chad. Last year, there were only 30 human cases worldwide…” (Doucleff, 3/21).

VOA News: South Sudan Eliminates Guinea Worm
“…South Sudan’s health minister says the accomplishment would not have been possible without the partnership between South Sudan’s health ministry and the Carter Center, named after former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, which the minister credits with setting up infrastructures and programs to rid the country of the disease. ‘And to us as South Sudanese, we feel we have contributed to the common cause of humanity, of our day today, that we have played our part of realizing that dream of eradicating and ridding the world of this debilitating disease called the Guinea worm,’ Kok said…” (Bior, 3/21).