[CORRECTED] Polio returns to Venezuela, and threatens the region

Editor’s note: This story, published on June 14th, stated that Venezuela’s health department reported to the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) the first case of polio in South America since 1991. The suspected case was found in a child who had symptoms of paralysis consistent with polio. On June 15th PAHO issued a statement saying that further analysis showed that the paralysis was “not associated with wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus”. In other words, this does not appear to be a case of polio. That part of our original story is therefore no longer correct.

IN 1961 Venezuela became the first country in Latin America virtually to eliminate malaria, using a combination of DDT, an insecticide, and drugs. The oil-rich country has now made health history again, this time in a bad way. On June 7th Venezuela’s health department reported to the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) the first case of polio in South America since 1991. This is a big worry, not only for Venezuela but for its neighbours. The re-emergence of polio strongly suggests that Venezuela’s vaccination programme has failed. With thousands of Venezuelans a day fleeing the country’s political and economic crisis, there is a risk that polio and other highly infectious diseases will spread to more countries in the region.