The Israelites are finally saved from the serpents when Moses makes a brass sculpture of a serpent on a pole. This may be an early public health effort, a visual aid to teach the proper treatment for guinea worm. Because when that yard-long piece of spaghetti begins to emerge from the painful, fiery blister it causes, the best course of action—even today—is to wrap the worm around a tiny stick. This keeps it from slinking back into the body. With careful wrapping, over the course of weeks, the fiery serpent can be drawn out and removed.
