Efficaciousness of Certain Chemicals to Control Dracunculiasis — A Field Trial

To prevent infection with Dracunculus medinensis, a carrier host, the copepod Cyclops, has to be controlled. After preceding laboratory investigations a field trial with well water and different additions of chlorine and sodium permanganate is carried out. The exposure is performed at an ambient temperature of 25… 40 °C and in bright and dark samples (5… 11 h of sunshine/d) as well as in the well. The residual concentrations of the two chemicals are an exponential function of the time of exposure with half-times between 6 and 23 h for chlorine and 11… 30 h for sodium permanganate. The depletion of the two oxidizing agents under light is faster than in darkness. Dosage should be done in such a way that the LC_90,24h after 24 h of exposure will not be fallen below; in a specific case, this guarantees at the same time that the permissible concentrations for drinking water will not be reached 96 h after addition. For this, initial concentrations of 30 mg 1 Cl₂ or 50 mg/l KMnO_r are necessary. Under these conditions, the Cyclops population had died on the seventh day after the application of chemicals, but after seven weeks it reached the original density again. With one application of chloride or sodium permanganate a week Dracunculiasis can be completely controlled.