re: #947 Kenneth
“After reaching a record low of 483 reported polio cases globally in 2001, 2 events fueled debate about the feasibility of polio eradication. The first circumstance was the cessation of polio vaccination in northern Nigeria during 2003-2004, which occurred because of unfounded fears about the safety of OPV; the second was reductions in the number and geographic extent of national immunization days and supplemental immunization days in India during 2001-2002, which resulted in the spread of polio from Nigeria and India during 2003-2006 with importations into 27 previously polio-free countries.13 At least 92 separate importations were documented by epidemiologic and genomic sequencing data. Control of the ensuing outbreaks required additional supplemental immunization rounds with direct costs of more than $500 million in external funds alone. Cessation of polio vaccination in northern Nigeria resulted in more than 5000 additional paralyzed children during 2003-2006, both within Nigeria and through the spread of poliovirus to 20 of the 27 polio-free countries from West and Central Africa to Indonesia.”

emphasis mine —from JAMA