
The World’s Last Worm: A Dreaded Disease Nears Eradication - joeyespo
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=last-worm-tropical-disease-near-eradication
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_delirium
Interesting confluence of circumstances making this possible. For one thing,
the worm can't survive in any form outside humans for any significant period
of time; there's no dormant form that can lurk in the soil or water, and it
apparently can't infect other animals. So if all humans were infection-free
for 2-3 weeks (the longest its larvae can live in water supplies), it'd
completely die out. And on top of that, it can infect humans through only one
route, and that's a route that can be blocked with basic measures not
requiring technological sophistication (e.g. filtering water through cloth),
because it enters only via ingestion of macroscopic fleas that contain the
larvae.

~~~
JulianMorrison
In other words, basic sanitation would have wiped this life form out - its
continued existence speaks of tens of thousands of years of unbroken poverty.
And it is only being eradicated because of cleverly-invented measures that can
be undertaken while still poor.

Humanity, shame on you for leaving these people behind.

~~~
cageface
Or, if you want to try to be a little more positive, let's be happy that we
have here another case of science lifting people out of misery.

~~~
JulianMorrison
No, it's particularly that kind of rah-rah I'm pointing out the hole in. Our
well-resourced science and our well-resourced NGOs have allowed us to
construct and communicate a solution to a disease of poverty that works
without lifting them out of poverty.

It's certainly a small improvement, but lionizing it uncritically amounts to
justifying the status quo.

~~~
pyre
So you're saying that the only acceptable solution is to lift these people out
of poverty? What about the people that are affected in the meantime? The end
of poverty isn't something that's just waiting for someone to snap their
fingers for it to come to a crashing halt.

Also, depending on where you're talking about in the world, poverty is
dependent on the local political situation. See North Korea for example. If I
sent boatloads of supplies and money to North Korea, what are the chances that
they were reach the common man (instead of going towards the military and
ruling elite)?

------
patdennis
Also of note: Save the Guinea Worm Foundation.

<http://www.deadlysins.com/guineaworm/index.htm>

Took some Googling for me to verify that it's indeed a joke.

~~~
pmiller2
Yeah, the only real hints that it was fake were the bits about people
volunteering to be infected with them, and the part where the foundation
doesn't take donations so they can remain non-partisan.

But, in all seriousness, I think we should at least sequence this thing's
genome before we purposely cause its extinction. Who knows if some enzyme it
secretes might be valuable to modern medicine?

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jamesaguilar
It's interesting that no one cries out over the extinction of species that are
harmful to us. Not that I mind; some extinctions are good. Reminds me of a
passage from a science fiction novel I read a while back.

"No ballads were written of this great battle; the official account was curt
to the point of insult:

"'Technologically Super-advanced and Aggressive Alien Species VI Engaged and
Genocided.'

"Alien Species II, III, IV and V had fought longer, more spectacular
campaigns, but they were just as dead. ...

"For humanity remained, as it had always been, a decisive and a ruthless
species. The Government of the Solar Neighbourhood preached peace and liberty,
and tolerance for all sentient creatures. But any alien that threatened the
wellbeing of humanity would be eradicated, without a second thought. That was
the way it always had been, and always would be."

Palmer, Philip (2010-10-28). Version 43.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
Define harmful thought. I do not want poisonous snakes or tigers or great
whites exterminated.

I would even think twice about mosquitos.

But this creepy worm thing I have no problem with.

~~~
Egregore
While I agree it's creepy, it would be possible in future to engineer these
kind of ogranism, to work inside human bodies and cure them.

------
ndefinite
I knew someone who handed these straws out in Africa a few years back:
<http://www.gizmag.com/go/4418/> They are simple and inexpensive but they
perfectly filer out the larvae from untreated water.

I'm sure he'd be super impressed to see how dramatically the numbers have
fallen.

------
Kelliot
Good news! Although am i the only one a little disappointed that this is only
the 2nd we've wiped out in our long history?

~~~
Hemospectrum
There are plenty of dangerous lifeforms we could realistically stamp out --
grizzly bears, for example. The pertinent question is whether it would be
worth the cost. This organism can be defeated forever with handmade water
filters, and we'll never miss it. But we could burn all the swamps in the
world (along with countless "bystander" species) and still fail to wipe out
malaria.

~~~
pkulak
> Grizzly bears, for example

And a terrible example!

~~~
andrewflnr
It was a perfect example. His point was that it would be ridiculous to try.

