The Methods Used for Eradication of Polio Versus the Defense Efforts That Are Being Conducted for Global Defense Against Ebola

Poliovirus eradication has been a long-lasting and difficult process that has become a global issue. The World Health Organization and the European Union have been trying to end the terrible reign of this abhorrent disease since the 1980s and are continually fighting the virus today. Poliomyelitis is an Old World disease, much like smallpox. It has been easily, through a twenty year process, eradicable through mass vaccination and circle vaccination. However, as poliovirus is coming to the end of its reign, a more recent danger lurks nearby. Ebola virus is considered a non-traditional disease in that it requires more developed methods for eradication and control. It is more developed and resides in nature, beyond human control. This is importantly different because natural viral reservoirs are imperative to the eradication and viral elimination process. If a virus exists in an animal species outside of humans, then it makes viral elimination and eradication significantly more difficult because the virus cannot be completely eliminated. Because of this, new tactics must be used rather than those used in the eradication of polio or smallpox. The purpose of this study is to use historical comparative analysis of the methods of eradication used to eliminate polio, such as traditional vaccination methods, to the methods being used to try and eliminate Ebola as a more recently arisen global threat. What changes in methodology can be done to eliminate Ebola from nature? What limitations are there on the eradication of Ebola today? These are the questions that are the focus of the literature review as methodology and data collection are reviewed and analyzed throughout this study. It is hoped that alternative methods suggested by this study could be considered as possible resolutions to the Ebola epidemic rising in the world