photograph from Academy of Achievement
On this day, March 26, in 1953 Jonas Salk announced that he had successfully tested a vaccine against polio. Salk conducted the first tests on former polio patients, on himself and his family. In 1952 there had been 58,000 new cases of Polio in the US and by 1964, only 121. For more see:
Watch Polio Vaccine at EncycloMedia.com
Today, worldwide Polio is down by 99%, fewer than 3,000 cases per year. Most occur in Nigeria, northern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Bill and Melinda Gates have given a 100 million dollar challenge grant to the Rotary Foundation to support the new push to eradicate Polio. To hear more:Bill Gates on Polio
