Eradicating polio

Abstract

On 20 September 2015, the Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (GCC) declared that type 2 wild poliovirus had been eradicated. The GCC examined reports from 189 of 195 countries around the world and studied separate data [held by the World Health Organization (WHO)] from the remaining countries. According to WHO, nearly 2 million appropriate clinical samples had been tested, and no type 2 wild polioviruses were found. The announcement is the first step toward eradicating all three wild poliovirus types. But this landmark will only be declared when the GCC is confident that there have been no wild virus cases of any type for 3 years.