°µºÚ±¬ÁÏ

It began in 2014. Doctors noticed a cluster of mysterious cases in Colorado and Wyoming. Children were coming in with weak and paralyzed limbs.…

This year was on track for a record-low number of polio cases. But polio pushed back hard. It reappeared in some places and spiked in others. Still, global health officials remain confident that polio can be defeated soon.

The number of polio cases globally sank to an all-time low in 2012. But outbreaks in Syria and Somalia this year are jeopardizing efforts to eradicate the virus. A recent visit to the Somali-Ethiopian border highlights just how easily polio can regain a foothold in rural, insecure communities.

Just a few decades ago, polio was crippling more than a thousand children each day. Now the paralyzing virus remains endemic to only three countries. A timeline shows how polio went from one of the most feared illnesses to a disease on the ropes.

Syria used to have one of the highest rates of polio vaccinations in the region. But since the civil war began, rates have plummeted. Now the crippling virus has likely returned to the country, health officials say. Initial tests indicate that polio has paralyzed at least two children.

After being free of polio for decades, Israel has detected the virus in sewers across the country. No children have become ill. But health officials are worried that polio has regained a foothold in Israel.

After suffering dozens of attacks against staff members, including kidnappings and murders, the nonprofit is closing all operations in Somalia. In many parts of the country, the aid group was the only source of health care.

Somalia now has the dubious distinction of having the worst polio outbreak in the world. The country had been polio-free since 2007. If this outbreak gains a foothold, health workers fear it could spread into the Middle East.

The world is closer than ever to wiping out polio. But a growing outbreak in the Horn of Africa has health workers worried that the virus could spread to surrounding regions. Thirty-one kids have been paralyzed by the poliovirus in the past two months, and the number is expected to rise.