Studies on the Epidemiology of Dracunculiasis in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Between April 1999 and March 2000 an epidemiological survey was conducted for prevalence and distribution of dracunculiasis in fifteen communities in Ikwo Local government area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. A total of 4568 persons were examined out of which 640 (14.0%), had active cases of guinea worm. The disease was higher in males (15.0%) than in females (12.0%). However infection rates varied significantly among different villages, age and occupational groups (P<0.05) with fever (45%) and severe pain (35%) as their predominant symptoms. Disability associated with guinea worm infections in the area include crippling effect, lowered sexual activity and poor maternal attention (in females). Infection in the area depends on the source of water supply. Pond water users recorded more infection than the bore-hole/well users. Over 57.7% of persons examined filtered their water before drinking, while 26.13% did not supply treatment of any kind. The prevalence rate showed seasonal variations with 105 cases in the month of March (16.4%) and 6 cases in the month of August (0.94%). Endemicity of dracunculiasis was encouraged by behavioural and cultural inclinations. @JASEM Dracunculiasis is a parasitic infection acquired by drinking water from ponds contaminated by cyclopoid copepods infected with third stage larvae of the parasite Dracunculus medinensis. Worm emergence is through the skin after a year of entering the infected person and this is usually associated with secondary bacterial infection. It has been called a neglected disease of neglected people since it strikes remote farming populations who have been passed over by national development efforts (Anosike et al 2002). Dracunculiasis is endemic in areas where the population depends for its domestic water supply on surface water especially stagnant pools and water holes, shallow unprotected wells and slow flowing streams (Kale 1977). Infection is especially likely under circumstance in which the same water source is used for drinking and bathing and in which people have to wade into to fetch water (Nwoke 1992). Various works on the disease and its vectors (Cyclops) have been extensively recorded in Nigeria and these include: Onabamiro (1954, 1956), Nwosu et al (1982), Edungbola (1983; 1984), Osisanya et al (1986), Fabiyi (1991), Nwoke (1992), Anosike et al, (2000), Amadi (2002). Ebonyi State is known endemic area in Nigeria (Hopkins 1998). Efforts towards the disease eradication and control of the vectors as well as their complication still constitute a public health problem as many elsewhile communities that were thought to be free from the disease hitherto return endemic. The present investigation was designed to assess the status of the disease and possible strategies towards the final eradication and control. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was carried out in fifteen communities of Ikwo Local Government Area located in Eastern Part of Ebonyi State Nigeria. The area consists of seasonal streams and ponds in which a larger portion of the population depends for water. Rainfall is seasonal, it runs between the months of May to September and measures about 200cm to 250cm, while the dry season is from October to April. A daily temperature of 30C is recorded. The inhabitants of the area are mainly farmers while others engage in petty trading, civil service work, fishing and palm wine tapping. Due to the swampy nature of the grassland majority of the farmers engage in the cultivation of rice. Other crops cultivated are yam, cassava groundnut etc. The natural streams and ponds serve the inhabitants throughout the year and due to the drastic reduction in volume of these water bodies during the dry season, people inevitably wade into them to bath, fetch water for drinking and other domestic uses. Data Collection: Between April 1999 to March 2000, a total of 4568 persons resident in Ikwo L.G.A. were examined physically for the emergency of guinea worm. House to house interview of patients and case search methods as in most guinea worm studies (Belcher 1975, Udonsi 1987a&b, Anosike et al 2000; Amadi 2002) were also adopted to determine among JASEM ISSN 1119-8362 All rights reserved J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Mgt. June, 2006 Vol. 10 (2) 67 73 Full-text Available Online at www.bioline.org.br/ja Studies on the Epidemiology of Dracunculiasis... Amadi, ANC; Anosike, JC; Iwuala, MOE 68 other things the number of people with active cases and those ever infected. The data was stratified by sex, age, occupation, source of drinking water, site of infection seasonality of outbreaks and disabilities associated with the diseases were identified.