Acute Poliomyelitis

Acute poliomyelitis is a disease of the anterior horn motor neurons of the spinal cord and brain stem caused by poliovirus. Flaccid asymmetric weakness and muscle atrophy are the hallmarks of its clinical manifestations, due to loss of motor neurons and denervation of their associated skeletal muscles. Because of the success of poliovirus vaccine, poliomyelitis, once one of the most feared human infectious diseases, is now almost entirely preventable by proper immunization (see image below).
The typical contractures of postpolio residual paralysis. In 1988, the World Health Organization initiated the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to eradicate poliomyelitis; at the time, it was endemic in 125 countries. As of 2006, only 6 countries were endemic for polio; however, the worldwide campaign to eradicate polio continues today, as do efforts to prevent transmission of the disease into polio-free areas.