(CNN) -- Oppressed by war and poverty for generations, the Sudanese have struggled with terrible hardships. But the people of this vast country have a narrow window of hope to achieve progress by ridding both their nation and the world of a horrible disease forever. With support from The Carter Center and others in one small targeted area where cases remain, Sudan -- the last stand for Guinea worm disease -- could quickly eliminate this parasitic infection contracted from contaminated drinking water. Guinea worm victims endure the horror of a thin worm, up to 3 feet (1 meter) long, emerging slowly through a burning blister in their skin over the course of about a month after the parasite has incubated inside them for a year. This can be stopped by educating people to filter all drinking water and to stay out of water sources when they have a worm emerging to keep it from discharging new larvae back into the water.
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Jimmy Carter: Sudanese have chance to rid nation and world of a horrible disease
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Guinea worm sufferers endure 3 foot-long worm emerging painfully from skin, he writes
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The Carter Center helping Sudan with education, eradication efforts
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Sudanese have been most successful during periods of relative peace, Carter says
@placeholder has reduced its cases by 98 percent since the eradication program began there in 1995, and we expect even greater reductions in 2010.