Pals for Polio

Blue text on a white background.

Polio is a contagious viral disease that, at its worst, can cause paralysis or death. Thanks to the vaccination discovered in 1955, no new cases have been reported in the United States since 1979. Polio does, however, remain in northern Nigeria and on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Though polio is most commonly contracted by children, the disease struck future president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1929 at age 39, paralyzing his legs. While the public was not totally unaware of the President's condition, he still did his best to avoid being photographed or seen publicly in a wheel chair.