origin of polio virus Although, polio doesn’t have a specific origin, it is likely that polio has been around for thousands of years, this is a thought as an Egyptian carving (from approximately 1400 BCE) includes a man with a leg deformity that looks similar to symptoms caused by polio. In the 1800s polio had appeared to be an uncommon disease but shortly after (1900s) reached epidemic proportions. It is believed that infants were mainly exposed to polio through contaminated water supplies. In 1994 polio was eliminated from the Western Hemisphere because of wide-spread vaccination. In 2016 it is common in Afghanistan and Pakistan (with an occasional spread to neighboring countries).
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how it spread from person to person |
Polio is transmitted to a person through oral contact or via the fecal route. This occurs as people living in areas with limited access to running water or flushing toilets often receive the virus from drinking water that has been contaminated by human waste or (less frequently) by a common vehicle. E.g. contaminated food/water. it can then rapidly spread through a community with poor hygiene (usually developing countries).
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