Africa has been declared wild polio-free after a three-decade campaign against the disease that once paralysed about 75,000 children on the continent every year.
The highly contagious disease is the second to be eradicated since smallpox 40 years ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa director Matshidiso Moeti said on Tuesday. However, a minor strain still infects hundreds.
Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is an infectious disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system causing paralysis in children. It is transmitted from person-to-person mainly through faecal matter entering the mouth with children under five years being more likely to contract the disease than any other group.Â
One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that five to 10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immobilised. Read more…
