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A health worker, right, administers polio drops to a child on the first day of a nationwide polio vaccination campaign, in Karachi on February 3, 2025. A Pakistan police officer travelling to guard polio vaccinators was shot dead on February 3, police said, on the first day of a nationwide immunisation effort after a year of rising cases.

A health worker in Karachi administers polio drops — the oral vaccine — on February 3, the first day of a nationwide polio vaccination campaign. The country, one of only two where wild polio circulates, has seen a rise in cases due to issues with vaccination campaigns. Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images

Goats and Soda

Could polio be poised for a comeback?

April 16, 2025 • Cases have been rising in Afghanistan and Pakistan — and global health specialists are worried that this year's U.S. foreign aid cuts could usher in a wider resurgence.

The dream of wiping out polio might need a rethink

NPR

Goats and Soda

The dream of wiping out polio might need a rethink

April 10, 2023 • When public health specialists look at the annual case counts, some see a trend that raises questions about how realistic the goal of a polio-free world might be.

Africa Declares Wild Polio Is Wiped Out — Yet It Persists In Vaccine-Derived Cases

An oral polio vaccine, which contains weakened live virus, is administered in a health enter in Togo. Africa has declared that wild polio has been eradicated, but a relatively small number of cases of vaccine-derived polio persist. BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty hide caption

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BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty

Goats and Soda

Africa Declares Wild Polio Is Wiped Out — Yet It Persists In Vaccine-Derived Cases

August 25, 2020 • The Kick Polio Out of Africa Campaign began in 1996. This week, the World Health Organization announced that wild polio has been eradicated — although there is a caveat.