A disease epidemic in Iceland simulating poliomyelitis

to 1949 an extensive epidemic of a dis-ease apparently involving the central nervous system broke out in the town of Akureyri which is on the northern coast of Iceland. This epidemic, which at first was diag-nosed as poliomyelitis, presented in many ways such peculiar features that a detailed description of it seems indi-cated. The medical district of Akureyri com-prises the town of Akureyri with some 6,900 inhabitants, as well as the neigh-boring rural district with a population of about 2,700. The distance from Aku-reyri to the remotest farms of the dis-trict is about 30 miles. On September 25th, 1948, one case of poliomyelitis was reported from the ru-ral part of the medical district of Aku-reyri and later (October 16th and 19th) two more cases, one of them in the town. All these patients, especially the two lat-ter ones, were heavily paralyzed and there seems to be no doubt about the correctness of the diagnosis. Four more cases (3 in the town) were recorded be-fore the end of October but only one of them developed a slight paresis. From now on cases accumulated rapidly in th