The global push to eradicate polio is the latest chapter in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) polio efforts, their fight against polio has been part of their mission since the 1950s. Shortly after the agency’s creation, CDC established a national polio surveillance unit headed by CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service founder Alex Langmuir. CDC worked collaboratively with Dr. Jonas Salk, of the University of Pittsburgh, who developed the inactivated polio vaccine in the early 1950s, and Dr. Albert Sabin, who developed the oral polio vaccine in the early 1960s. CDC’s PSU staff and EIS officers worked to administer both the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines in the field, and also to gather and analyze surveillance data.

Elimination in the U.S.

Polio was once considered one of the most feared diseases in the United States. In the early 1950s, before polio vaccines were available, polio outbreaks caused more than 15,000 cases of paralysis each year in the United States. Following introduction of vaccines—specifically, trivalent inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) in 1955 and trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in 1963—the number of polio cases fell rapidly to less than 100 in the 1960s and fewer than 10 in the 1970s. Polio has been eliminated from the United States thanks to widespread polio vaccination in this country. This means that there is no year-round transmission of poliovirus in the United States. Since 1979, no cases of polio have originated in the United States. However, the virus has been brought into the country by travelers with polio. The last time this happened was in 1993. It takes only one traveler with polio to bring the disease into the United States. The best way to keep the United States polio-free is to maintain high immunity (protection) in the population against polio through vaccination.

Data and Analysis

Strong surveillance plays a foundational role in helping to eliminate polio cases worldwide. In order to monitor and improve the quality of immunization campaigns, detailed records are kept and the data from those records are used to inform action and decision-making. CDC researchers and epidemiologists help to collect, analyze, and interpret the data from vaccination activities to better understand the epidemiology and guide program planning and policy development. CDC expertise in data analysis and interpretation is used at the country, regional and global level to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of global polio eradication efforts. As a result: 

• The number of worldwide polio cases has fallen from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to 176 in 2019—a decline of more than 99% in reported cases.
• Five of the six regions of the world are certified polio-free—the African Region, the Americas, Europe, South East Asia and the Western Pacific. Only two polio-endemic countries (nations that have never interrupted the transmission of wild poliovirus) remain—Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Without our polio eradication efforts, more than 18 million people who are currently healthy would have been paralyzed by the virus

Lives Saved

The world has come a long way in the fight against polio. In 1988, there were 350,000 cases of wild polio across 125 countries and in 2018, there were only 33 cases in in two countries. Efforts to eradicate polio over the last few decades have meant that over 18 million cases of paralysis have been averted.

Success in eradicating polio will mean that no child will have to experience the devastating effects of the disease again. Failure to eradicate polio could cause  poliovirus to reappear around the world with up to 200,000 new cases expected every year within 10 years. We are so close to eradicating the virus, but we need to finish the job now, once and for all. References
Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  Global Immunization.  https://www.cdc.gov/polio/what-is-polio/index.htm. Accessed October 13, 2020. 

Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  Global Health.  https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/infographics/default.html. Accessed October 13, 2020.