According to a panel of polio experts, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries which have so far reported cases of polio this year But the panel is holding back any claims of success until the disease is eradicated worldwide. According to a Reuters report, however, it looks like they're close to achieveing that goal.
"The progress is very impressive. We're looking forward to finishing the job," said Jay Wenger, the head of the Gates Foundation, during a briefing to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and the U.S. Centres of Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).
"We don't think we can declare victory, but we've never gone anywhere near this long without any wild polio virus being found in Nigeria or in Africa as a whole," Wenger added.
The viral disease, which affected over 1,000 children daily during the '80s, attacks the nervous system and leads to paralysis. The spread of polio is fast and aggressive; young kids are the most susceptible, particularly those living in unsanitary areas.
Data from the polio panel revealed that 22 cases in Pakistan and 1 case in Afghanistan have been recorded for 2015, as outlined by the Reuters report.
In 1988, the GPEI organized a vaccination program to reduce polio cases in 125 countries. At this point, the reduction of cases is pegged at 99 percent globally, according to WHO's polio factsheet.
Despite this, the WHO is still cautious because those infected can put other children at risk. Such was the case in Syria in 2013, when the disease resurfaced after 14 years, which prompted speeding up the vaccination drive there.
