Photo: ReutersNigerian Gbemisola Ijigbamigbe's right leg was virtually paralysed after she contracted wild polio aged 11 months. Thousands of people across Africa still live with the effects of the disease, but on Tuesday the independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) for Polio Eradication declared the region free of endemic wild polio, four years after the last case was recorded in Nigeria. Globally, wild polio case numbers have been cut drastically due to national and regional immunisation for babies and children. A victim of polio disease heads the ball during a game of para-soccer in Abuja, Nigeria. The 16 countries in Africa affected by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks include Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 25, 2020 21:22 UTC