This is the first in a series of reports from a Rotary expedition to Ethiopia to End Polio Now.
Even as ebola terrorizes West Africa and, by extension, the world, polio is on the ropes in Africa. Only Nigeria has never been able to eradicate the disease. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the last case of wild polio in Nigeria was in July, nearly three months ago. In other words, the last case of polio in Nigeria may have been the very last case of polio in Nigeria. There have been about a dozen cases of polio this year outside of Nigeria, but none since July.
The continent of Africa has not experienced a case of wild polio in nearly three months. The World Health Organization won’t declare Nigeria or the continent polio free until three years have passed, but it is worth celebrating the fact that we are now counting the days to that milestone!
Immunizations, however, must continue not only in Africa but around the globe. As we’ve seen in the U.S. with ebola, an infect…