'Milestone' in polio eradication achieved
The second of three forms of the polio virus has been eradicated, experts have announced.
There are three types of the wild polio virus, which, while scientifically different, cause the same symptoms, including paralysis or even death,
The world was declared free of type 2 four years ago - and now the World Health Organization has said type 3 has also been eradicated.
But type 1 is still circulating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
See also:
Two Strains of Polio Are Gone, but the End of the Disease Is Still Far Off
Related:
'What the hell is going on?' Polio Cases are Vanishing in Pakistan, Yet the Virus Won't go Away
Polio Outbreak in Papua New Guinea
The End Of Guinea Worm Was Just Around the Corner. Not Anymore
(Score: 1) by Jay on Friday October 25 2019, @05:48PM (2 children)
The Guinea worm is a great example. We thought we had it eradicated, but then it turned out that wild dogs can harbor it. Until that was discovered, it was confusingly hard to eradicate. Now it looks like an attempt to eradicate it in wild dogs will need to happen, while working to keep it in check in the human populations that might come into contact with them.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday October 25 2019, @06:41PM
A good point - we don't necessarily know that animal reservoirs exist until we've nearly eliminated a disease in people. At least on a regional basis - you'll probably discover the animal reservoirs in the first regions to "eradicate" a disease long before you get anywhere close to eradicating it globally.
Sounds like it's even worse than that for the Guinea worm - frogs can be infected as well. And if they can survive in humans, dogs, and frogs, then I would guess there's probably a host of other species they can survive in as well. Parasites are definitely their own special class of infections.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Saturday October 26 2019, @07:13AM
And that's the problem, even though we think we've eradicated something, the anti-vaxxers will do their damndest to make sure it comes back. Or, better yet, never gets eradicated in the first place.
You have to wonder whether there's some sort of symbiosis there. Deadly disease X doesn't have to evolve to become vaccine-resistant, it just has to wait for humans to devolve to become vaccine-resistant.