Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

This program is designed for English learners,

so we speak a little slower,

and we use words and phrases especially written

for people learning English. On today's program, Brian Lynn has a report on the recent history of efforts to wipe out the disease polio. Mario Ritter Jr. and Jill Robbins

have this week's education report. Finally we hear today's lesson of the day from Jill and Andrew Smith. But first,

polio was driven out of much of the world more than 30 years ago after a series of successful

vaccination campaigns.

But the viral disease is still spreading in a small number of nations.

The recent discovery of the first polio case in Gaza in 25 years led world health officials to

set new goals to get rid of the disease in all areas.

Polio is an infection caused by a virus

that mostly affects children under the age of five.

Most infected people do not have any symptoms,

but some can experience a high body temperature, headaches, vomiting, and stiffness of the backbone, or spine.

The World Health Organization, WHO, says polio can affect the nervous system and cause paralysis within hours.

The UN agency estimates one in 200 polio cases results in permanent paralysis, usually of the legs.

Among children who are paralyzed, up to 10% die when their breathing muscles stop working. The virus spreads from

person to person entering the body through the mouth. It is most often spread through contact with the

waste from an infected person. Sometimes it is also passed through water or food.

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