(Image source: Unicef)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

On January 13, 2011, an 18-month-old Indian girl contracted polio. A year later, not only has she recovered and is able to walk, but hers was the last recorded case in India. Here’s CNN’s India Broadcast Network.

“It’s a proud moment for India, with zero polio cases reported in a year now. The country has achieved a huge milestone today. In fact, it’s the closest that India has ever been to eradicating polio altogether.”

In 2009, India had almost half the reported cases of polio in the world, which makes a polio-free year all the more impressive.

Part of the success is due to a massive vaccination campaign, with millions of health care workers administering the vaccine however they could: going door to door, setting up clinics at festivals and even giving the vaccine out at train stations. (Video source: Unicef)

But it wasn’t just getting the vaccine to children that proved challenging. There was resistance to it in the country’s northern Muslim communities. Al Jazeera explains.

“About 20% of the people in Moradabad are Muslim, and 10 years ago, there was a lot of misinformation about polio. There was talk that the vaccine made women infertile. Community leaders told people not to vaccinate their children.”

The rumors painted the vaccine as part of a plot by Western countries to limit Muslim populations. NPR explains, success in Moradabad was as much about persuasion as it was about access.

“So vaccination strategists began a massive education campaign, beginning with respected scholars in Muslim universities, and reaching all the way down to trusted shopkeepers. So-called ‘influencers’ were identified alleyway by alleyway in the neighborhoods of Moradabad.”

With the aid of local leaders, resistance to the vaccine lessened. But it’s still too early to declare India completely safe from polio. A writer for Third Age explains.

“...only a tiny fraction of those infected with the polio virus ever contract the disease. So while no one in India is reported to have suffered from polio in a year, the virus ... could still be lingering. That's why the country will not be certified as completely polio-free until at least three full years pass without a case.”

The biggest threat to India’s success at the moment comes from outside the country. Neighboring Pakistan still has hundreds of cases per year, so the disease could be reintroduced if vaccination efforts slack.