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 debilitating affliction. Contracted by drinking infected water, Guinea worm disease affects some of the world's most vulnerable people. South Sudan was one of nine countries still affected when its eradication program began in 2006. The global campaign to wipe out guinea worm was launched by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Riek Gai Kok - Minister of Health in South Sudan #CarterGuineaWorm pic.twitter.com/SyB9bmYrNP — @CarterCenterOnly one human disease has ever been successfully eradicated: smallpox.

Source: CBC News March 21, 2018 16:07 UTC