Source of drinking water supply and transmission of guinea worm disease in Nigeria

Abstract

During 1982, ecological factors associated with freshwater pollution were investigated in Idere, a rural Nigerian community with endemic guinea worm infection. Data were collected on the quality of all pond water sources, and on rainfall patterns and potable piped water available in the community. Pond water provided 76% of the total water used in Idere. This source of drinking water provided the classical ecological environment for the transmission of Dracunculus medinensis, other helminth parasites and bacterial enteric infections. The bacteriological analysis of drinking water from the ponds reflects the absence of sanitary arrangements for human waste disposal in the community, as the ponds are collectors of storm run-offs. Okina, the spring-fed pond which was nearest to the households, was the most reliable year-round source of water to the community; however, Okina also contained the highest density of infective Thermocyclops and the highest faecal coliform (FC) to faecal Streptococcus (FS) ratio (FC/FS), thus providing a central reservoir for guinea worm and bacterial infections. The transmission season of guinea worm infection corresponded with the period of greatest water scarcity in Idere. The amount of potable water available to Idere residents in 1981 was 3.6 litres per person per day. Frequent mechanical breakdowns, electric power failures, lack of fuel to run the water pumping engines and the direct link of the water pipeline supplying water to Idere with a water pipeline serving another major city in the same district were some of the reasons for potable water shortage in the community.