15.

Read the quote.

"Most people in rural areas are farmers, and when you have a disease like Guinea worm (a parasite), you are incapacitated, unable to continue with your work. By preventing the hundreds of thousands of cases that we do each year, we are freeing up that many more people to farm so that they will have food and be able to take care of theirs families."

---Emmanual Miri

Base of the quote, how can widespread disease affect a country's economy?

A.
It can hurt the economy by removing people from the workforce

B.
It can help the economy by creating new jobs in health care

C.
It can hurt the economy by making people stay in agriculture

D.
​It can help the economy by increasing the availability of food

A. It can hurt the economy by removing people from the workforce

Widespread disease can incapacitate individuals, making them unable to work and contribute to the economy, therefore affecting the workforce and overall productivity of a country.