A new polio threat may be growing in the Congo

The world was close to eradication of polio, which would have been only the second human endemic disease to be eradicated (after smallpox). Unfortunately, superstitious people in some remote areas objected to immunizations based on some kind of conspiracy theory, and unfortunately some of the people infected in those areas went on Hadj to Mecca and spread the disease to people from areas where polio had long been eliminated. Now there is major effort to get back on top of the disease.

However, Science magazine reports:

Polio is a horrendous disease, but it is seldom fatal—except now. An explosive outbreak in the Republic of Congo is writing another chapter in the book on how this ancient scourge behaves.

Polio usually strikes children under age 5, paralyzing one in 200 of those infected and killing at most 5%, occasionally up to 10% in developing countries. The new outbreak tearing through this West African country has so far killed an estimated 42% of its victims, who, in another unusual twist, are mostly males between the ages of 15 and 25. Since it began in early October, the outbreak has paralyzed more than 476 people and killed at least 179, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates from early December, making this one of the largest and deadliest polio outbreaks in recent history.