India close to eradicating polio

"Scientists, health workers and community outreach officials in India believe they're finally on the cusp of a major milestone, the defeat of polio throughout the country," the Los Angeles Times reports. However, "[s]ome people in India remain wary. There have been near-victories before. And polio is a wily opponent. The real test will come after the July-September monsoon season, when water-borne transmission is greatest," the newspaper writes.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "[t]he number of reported wild polio cases in India, the kind that most often causes paralysis, has dropped dramatically from hundreds just two years ago to only one in 2011" (Magnier, 6/26).