The world is zeroing in on the end of polio — by stopping people at bus stops, airports and train stations

Though it has been around for untold centuries, polio made its recorded debut in Europe during the early1800s, with the first known Canadian case appearing in Hamilton in 1910, according to the Canadian Public Health Association.

When it was at its peak between 1949 and 1954 about 11,000 Canadians would be left with polio-caused paralysis. The last major outbreak in this country occurred in 1959, when some 2,000 people were paralyzed.

“In Canada, our last case was about 1977,” says Dr. Shelley Deeks, the chief of communicable diseases at Public Health Ontario.