Polio Elimination Due to Vaccination, Not End of Pesticide Use

Polio, a paralytic disease caused by a virus, has been eliminated in the U.S. — and nearly wiped out globally — thanks to vaccines. But social media posts are reviving old, false claims that polio is instead caused by pesticides and outbreaks of the disease ended when people stopped using DDT. The post Polio Elimination Due to Vaccination, Not End of Pesticide Use appeared first on The Washington Informer.

Polio Elimination Due to Vaccination, Not End of Pesticide Use
**FILE** As part of a USAID-supported polio initiative, a vaccinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) administers the oral polio vaccine in the Commune of Ndjili, Kinshasa on March 23, 2007. On that day, Minister of Health, Victor Makwenge Kaput officially launched a vaccination campaign against the wild polio virus in the capital city. (USAID/A. Mukeba via Wikimedia Commons)

Polio, a paralytic disease caused by a virus, has been eliminated in the U.S. — and nearly wiped out globally — thanks to vaccines. But social media posts are reviving old, false claims that polio is instead caused by pesticides and outbreaks of the disease ended when people stopped using DDT.

The post Polio Elimination Due to Vaccination, Not End of Pesticide Use appeared first on The Washington Informer.