Original version

BBC World Service East Asia

Discovery

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Discovery: Patient zero: Back from the brink

Magazines & Reviews

Patient zero: Back from the brink

24/05/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - Discovery, Patient zero: Back from the brink

Why did children in PNG contract polio in 2018?

A six-year old boy in Papua New Guinea woke up one day in 2018 and was suddenly unable to stand up. Less than a year later, children in three other Asia Pacific nations were experiencing the same alarming symptoms. 

A disease that had been thought to have been eradicated from this region 18 years before was back -- and it appeared to be spreading. 
Olivia Willis tells the story of how doctors discovered that these children who developed paralysis had in fact contracted polio.

Producers: Jane Lee, Cheyne Anderson
Senior Producer: Carl Smith
Executive Producer: Joel Werner
Sound Design: Tim Jenkins

An ABC Science Unit. ABC Radio National and BBC World Service co-production.

Picture: Child receiving a polio vaccination from health worker at a mobile clinic on a street in Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands, Credit: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Discovery

Patient zero: Back from the brink

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East Asia

About BBC World Service