An inspiring story of an epic health challenge, FOUL WATER/FIERY SERPENT follows dedicated field workers engaged in a final battle to eradicate the horrific Guinea worm disease in Africa.
For nearly three years, FOUL WATER / FIERY SERPENT tracks determined teams of men and women as they fight the closing skirmishes to wipe out the last Guinea worms in Ghana and Sudan. Attacking the parasites where they thrive – in poor, remote villages that rely on contaminated water – they distribute filter cloths, treat water sources with safe pesticide, educate villagers about avoiding the worms, and treat victims suffering from the disease.
For thousands of years the Guinea worm parasite (Dracunculus medinensis) has caused disabling misery, infecting people who drink water contaminated with the worm’s larvae. After growing inside the victim for a year, the adult worm, up to three feet long, emerges from the body through an agonizing skin blister that can incapacitate and cripple. The disease spreads when blisters are immersed in water and the worm releases its larvae, continuing its life cycle. There is no cure for this disease, and the only treatment is wrapping the worm around a stick and pulling it out, inch by inch, every day, for weeks.
