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Polio is Gone From Nigeria, WHO Says
Good news.
It has taken more than fifty years to get to this point, but it's still progress. Now, if only the barriers of ignorance, superstition, and greed can be overcome, maybe polio, measles, mumps, and whooping cough can join smallpox on the list of extinct diseases.
Sometimes, extinction is a good thing.
Nigeria has been declared free of transmission of polio, leaving just two countries in the world where the virus is still regularly spreading: Pakistan and Afghanistan.
It's a big step towards the eradication of a disease that paralyzes children for life and that's easy to prevent with a vaccine that costs just a few cents.
The World Health Organization announcement means that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria, which was the last country in Africa with regular, ongoing transmission of the virus.
Good news.
It has taken more than fifty years to get to this point, but it's still progress. Now, if only the barriers of ignorance, superstition, and greed can be overcome, maybe polio, measles, mumps, and whooping cough can join smallpox on the list of extinct diseases.
Sometimes, extinction is a good thing.