Guinea worm disease, also known as dracunculiasis, may disappear within two years, former US president Jimmy Carter said Friday. The Carter Center, founded in 1981 when Carter left the White House, has as main goal the eradication of the disease.

There were around 3.5 million cases in 1986, the first year when the global effort to get rid of the disease, led by the Carter Center, started. Also, around $225 million has been spent on eradication since that year. Last year the number had dropped to 9,600. Today there are fewer than 5,000 cases of Guinea worm disease in Mali, Niger, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia, the Center said.

“These last few cases are the most difficult. But we won’t stop until the last case is gone,” Carter said.

Guinea worm disease is usually spread by drinking unboiled stagnant water containing the larvae. Over a year, one or more of the larvae can grow to be a meter long. Few people die from it, but it is very debilitating with fevers, blisters and extreme pain when the worms emerge from the body. There is no vaccine or medicine for the parasite.

Hygiene education was the most important weapon against the disease. Distributing inexpensive cloths to help filter parasites from drinking water have cut the infection rate by 99 percent, the Center reported.

“The key heroes in this entire effort have been the local villagers ... who have performed brilliantly to cut this disease down by 99 percent,” Carter said.

The Center also reported that it has now a new commitment of $55 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Britain’s Department for International Development to push to end the disease.