Poliomyelitis Polio is a virus that infects the nervous system of humans (only) It can cause temporary or permanent paralysis or death There is a vaccine for polio The World Health Organization plans to eradicate polio in the next decade Polio outbreaks continue to occur in areas in which many are not vaccinated

Iron lung ward filled with Polio patients, Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, ca Courtesy of World Health Organization

Courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine (Photo - Yousuf Karsh 1956/National Gallery of Australia)

Vaccination campaigns Somalia A child is immunized against polio in the village of Sabbatum © Sebastião Salgado. DR Congo A health worker calls out to communities along the banks of the Congo River to bring their children to be immunized. He is also watching for children in passing canoes. The three-day national campaign aims to immunize all children under five. Throughout the country, warring factions have agreed to cease-fires for the duration of vaccination campaigns. © Sebastião Salgado

Motorcyclists deliver vaccine, preserved in cold- storage boxes, 150 kilometres down jungle tracks to a remote health zone in eastern Congo. It is a risky journey: two weeks earlier a doctor conducting immunization surveys was shot on this road. © Sebastião Salgado India After all the children under five in a household have been immunized, health workers mark the house to show it has been covered, in a suburb of Ghaziabad, a city in Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the only states in India where wild poliovirus is still circulating. In an all-out effort to eliminate the virus, entire districts are being blanketed with 'door-to-door' campaigns that literally target every house. © Sebastião Salgado

India A boy watches the merriment of girls at the Amar Jyoti Rehabilitation and Research Centre in New Delhi. © Sebastião Salgado Man with withered leg due to polio paralysis. Courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Sierra Leone Courtesy of World Health Organization Courtesy of World Health Organization

An ancient Egyptian stele, portraying a prince with a withered leg - probably polio. © WHO/GPEI