Epidemics of poliomyelitis in the Maltese island of Gozo : genetic susceptibility

There were fewer epidemics of polio in Gozo than in the much bigger island of Malta, but over many years the proportion of cases was similar. Within Gozo, the attack rate was greater in some villages and this was caused by some extended, related families with genetic susceptibility to polio. In these families, there was considerable consanguinity. Two thirds of the polio cases were related. To understand polio, one must study the disease over many years, not just isolated statistics from unconnected epidemics.peer-reviewe