Africa close to wiping out wild polio after six months free of disease | Global development | The Guardian

Africa close to wiping out wild polio after six months free of disease | Global development | The Guardian: "Africa has gone six months without any new cases of wild polio for the first time, experts say, raising hopes that the disease could be wiped out on the continent sooner than expected.

Wednesday marked half a year since the last polio case in Somalia. Nigeria achieved the same landmark on 24 January, though it has suffered some cases of vaccine-derived polio, a rare mutation from the oral polio vaccine in areas of poor sanitation.

“This is incredible progress,” said the Global Health Strategies, a New York-based health consultancy. “This is the first time ever that Africa has gone a full six months without a single case of wild polio virus. Combined with the recent successes in Nigeria, today’s milestone is a strong sign that Africa may soon be polio-free.”

Polio, a highly contagious viral disease that causes lifelong paralysis or even death, has been the target of massive education and child vaccination campaigns in several countries. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual letter for 2015 predicts: “We can get polio out of Africa this year and out of every country in the world in the next several years.”"



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