its crazy that humankind can effectively end disease
After eradicating polio for decades, we saw a case for the first time in 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9577438/
And given the drop in rates of immunization post covid, we can very expect more if the trend continues.
Without immunizations that would’nt have happened though?
Personally i'd call smallpox as actually eradicated despite the samples. I think its fair to call other diseases effectively eradicated, even if they aren't total. If less than 10 people in the world are dying per year, that is effective eradication even if not total
The live virus used in it can reproduce and spread in low-vaccination communities. While the vaccine version of it will not cause paralysis, it can and occasionally does mutate back into a pathogenic variant.
So we're sort of maintaining a reservoir of polio, really.