{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,31]],"date-time":"2025-12-31T11:54:54Z","timestamp":1767182094333,"version":"build-2238731810"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010830","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,19]],"date-time":"2022-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1666137600000}}],"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,7]],"date-time":"2022-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1665100800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100005527","name":"Carter Center","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100005527","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010269","name":"Wellcome Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["206194"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["206194"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010269","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100005527","name":"Carter Center","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100005527","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Dracunculus medinensis<\/jats:italic>\n                    (Guinea worm) is a parasitic nematode that can cause the debilitating disease dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) in humans. The global Guinea Worm Eradication Program has led intervention and eradication efforts since the 1980s, and Guinea worm infections in people have decreased &gt;99.99%. With the final goal of eradication drawing nearer, reports of animal infections from some remaining endemic countries pose unique challenges. Currently, confirmation of suspected Guinea worm infection relies on conventional molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is not specific to Guinea worm and, therefore, requires sequencing of the PCR products to confirm the identity of suspect samples, a process that often takes a few weeks. To decrease the time required for species confirmation, we developed a quantitative PCR assay targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome\n                    <jats:italic>b<\/jats:italic>\n                    (\n                    <jats:italic>cytb<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) gene of Guinea worm. Our assay has a limit of detection of 10 copies per reaction. The mean analytical parameters (\u00b1 SE) were as follows: efficiency = 93.4 \u00b1 7.7%,\n                    <jats:italic>y<\/jats:italic>\n                    -intercept = 40.93 \u00b1 1.11, slope = -3.4896 \u00b1 0.12, and the R\n                    <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                    = 0.999 \u00b1 0.004. The assay did not amplify other nematodes found in Guinea worm-endemic regions and demonstrated 100% diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. Implementation of this quantitative PCR assay for Guinea worm identification could eliminate the need for DNA sequencing to confirm species. Thus, this approach can be implemented to provide more rapid confirmation of Guinea worm infections, leading to faster execution of Guinea worm interventions while increasing our understanding of infection patterns.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010830","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,7]],"date-time":"2022-10-07T13:46:48Z","timestamp":1665150408000},"page":"e0010830","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Development and validation of a quantitative PCR for the detection of Guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis)"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3741-6109","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sarah M.","family":"Coker","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Erin K.","family":"Box","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Natalie","family":"Stilwell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elizabeth A.","family":"Thiele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"James A.","family":"Cotton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ellen","family":"Haynes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2452-5015","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Michael J.","family":"Yabsley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christopher A.","family":"Cleveland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,10,7]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0010830.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"223","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.15.2.223-246.2002","article-title":"Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) and the eradication initiative","volume":"15","author":"S Cairncross","year":"2002","journal-title":"Clinical Microbiology Reviews"},{"issue":"4","key":"pntd.0010830.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"511","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1971.20.511","article-title":"Concerning the structure and reproduction of the guinea worm (Filar\u00eda medinensis L.)","volume":"20","author":"AP Fedchenko","year":"1971","journal-title":"American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"},{"key":"pntd.0010830.ref003","first-page":"275","volume-title":"Advances in Parasitology","author":"E Ruiz-Tiben","year":"2006"},{"key":"pntd.0010830.ref004","unstructured":"Guinea Worm Wrap-Up #286. 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