Human behaviour and the transmission of dracunculiasis: a case study from the Ilorin area of Nigeria.

Dracunculiasis, infection with guinea worm, Dracunculus medinensis, is a debilitating disease causing considerable human misery and having an adverse impact on food production in affected areas. It can be entirely eradicated by the provision of protected drinking water for all members of the community. There are two phases in the transmission cycle associated with human activities, swallowing the infective guinea worm larvae in infected water and, 10-12 months later, the immersion of a limb with a guinea worm lesion on it in a drinking water source. In planning control strategies it is essential to understand the patterns of behaviour associated with these two phases of transmission. These include water consumption, water use and water treatment, patterns of water collection and population mobility. The recent increase in the levels, frequency and distance involved in population circulation is associated with increased prevalence rates. This analytical framework is used in a study of disease transmission in the area within a 50 kilometer radius of Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, Nigeria. The conclusion briefly suggests some benefits which might accrue to affected areas as the result of the consideration of behavioural factors involved in disease transmission.