Is it possible to eradicate poliovirus worldwide?
The only way to eradicate poliovirus from the world the way that the smallpox virus has been eradicated will be to stop using live poliovirus vaccine. That is because the live polio vaccine constantly reintroduces living viruses into the environment. In the summer of 2000, for example, after having been declared “polio-free,” the Caribbean island of Hispaniola experienced 45 cases of polio or suspected polio in children (35 in the Dominican Republic and 10 in Haiti). At least 19 children were paralyzed and two died. The outbreak was caused by poliovirus that came from the live oral poliovirus vaccine and had been circulating in the community for two years. Killed poliovirus vaccine can be used to prevent disease caused by either natural polioviruses or live vaccine polioviruses. Eradication is possible because humans are the only known natural host for polioviruses. Adequate use of killed poliovirus vaccine could not only eliminate all poliovirus disease (paralytic poliomyelitis), but
