Implementing dracunculiasis surveillance and control

Surveillance begins with village-based health workers, who are usually volunteers trained to detect and contain cases in countries where dracunculiasis is endemic.

In countries where transmission of Dracunculus medinensis has been interrupted, surveillance should be maintained for a minimum of 3 consecutive years, to ensure that no cases have been missed and there is zero reoccurrence of the disease. The International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication has recommended that cash rewards be introduced during the final stages of the campaign. 

One of the highest priorities of global dracunculiasis eradication is to improve surveillance and reporting of the disease, even zero cases, nationally and internationally.

Effective surveillance will help achieve the following objectives:

• Identify all affected villages and detect all human cases and infected animals
• Mobilize political and financial support
• Plan and implement interventions to interrupt transmission
• Confirm that eradication is achieved.

The goal of surveillance is to collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information that will help towards interrupting transmission, and to rapidly detect and contain any cases that might occur, in order to prevent further transmission in countries that have interrupted transmission.