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Just a quick update for those interested in the progress of the now decades-long international campaign to eradicate polio, a disease that has maimed and killed millions of people since the time of the Pharaohs.
An African child receiving polio vaccination
Attribution: Flickr/Sanofi
This deadly virus is now hanging on by the thinnest of threads.
The key news -- from January 1 through February 27 of this year, not a single case of polio caused by the wild poliovirus was reported.
We know it hasn't yet been completely wiped out because one environmental sample in Pakistan had traces of the wild virus.
In addition, were still seeing a few cases of illness caused when vaccines against type-2 poliovirus mutate back to a virulent form.
Perhaps 2024 will turn out to be the year when humanity can celebrate an enormous victory of science, medicine and international cooperation in the age-long battle against disease.
