Facts about polio - Polio is caused by a virus that is spread by contact with the feces of infected persons. Symptoms include sudden fever, sore throat, headache, muscle weakness, and pain. Polio can cause paralysis and death. An iron lung was a negative pressure ventilator.
Paralytic polio is characterized by asymmetric weakness or paralysis most often involving the legs.
Indigenous polio in the western hemisphere has been eliminated. There is a global effort to eradicate polio worldwide by the end of 2000. For more information on polio eradication, see WHO's Polio Eradication page.