Bill Gates calls polio 'a threat to us all' after disease reemerges

Bill Gates is worried about the reappearance of a disease in New York.

The New York health authorities announced on August 4 that they had detected the disease in two countries. The results, along with a confirmed case of the disease in New York's Rockland County in July, were called the "tip of the iceberg" for a larger outbreak of the disease.

Gates called the news an "urgent reminder" that "until we #EndPolio for good, it remains a threat to us all."

Gates, the world's fifth-richest man with a net worth of $118 billion, wrote that the eradication strategy should be supported.

After New York health authorities announced the discovery of a single case of paralytic polio in an unvaccinated young adult, Gates warned about the danger of the disease.

Gates, through his foundation, has advocated for years for the eradication of the disease. The Foundation is a partner in the Global Eradication Initiative.

The Gates Foundation gave $4.2 billion to the GPEI, making it the largest donor behind the U.S. government.

The campaign to eradicate the disease has been one of the most successful public health initiatives. In 1988 there were 350,000 cases of the disease. The total has fallen over time. The two remaining strains of the disease have been wiped out.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are considered by the World Health Organization to be endemic for the disease. There are two ways in which an outbreak in other countries can be caused: imported cases or spread by an individual who received the oral vaccine.

According to the CDC, one in four people will get a flu-like symptom if they are a carrier of the vaccine. Between one and five in a thousand cases can have serious and life threatening symptoms. A long-term condition known as post-polio syndrome can affect even those who recover.

In New York state, Rockland Country has some of the lowest vaccine rates, with only a small percentage of young children getting the required three vaccine shots. The government had to remove thousands of unvaccinated children from schools due to a severe Measles outbreak.

Public health campaigns may be diverted from the fight against COVID-19. The global vaccine coverage for the disease fell to 80% in the next two years.

Gates said on July 22 that there was a lot of work to be done to get back to pre-pandemic vaccine levels.

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