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August 26, 2020

African Continent Declared Free of Wild Polio
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In health news, Africa has been declared free from wild polio as over
95% of the continent's population has been vaccinated after a
decades-long immunization campaign. A quarter-century ago, the
water-borne disease left tens of thousands of children across Africa
paralyzed each year. Since then, billions of oral polio vaccines have
been provided across the continent. Wild polio is now found only in
Afghanistan and Pakistan, and health experts say eliminating it there
would permanently eradicate the disease.


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