My grandmother used to warn me to stay away from stagnant water. No doubt there are some reading this who recognize that solemn warning from their own childhood. It was a warning that she delivered to me in the 1990s, and to my dad in the 1950s. But it wasn’t muddy knees and wet shoes she was worried about— no, she was worried about polio. 

This is the story of the last major polio epidemic in Kenora — the summer of 1953. Though it is a tragic story, it is also one of hope.  In the coming months seniors across the district will be vaccinated against COVID19. Many of those seniors are the very same people who as children received the emergency first use of Jonas Salk’s life saving polio vaccine in the spring of 1955. 

As we spend another winter locked in desperate battle with an unseen viral enemy, it’s helpful and hopeful to reflect on another time in our history when we fought and we won. Poliomyletis, otherwise known simply as polio, is a viral disease that causes nerve damage, paralysis, and even death. The disease mostly affected children, and those under five were especially vulnerable. Polio was first identified in Canada in 1910 and by the 1930s it had reached Kenora. The disease was most active from July to the end of November.

The first big outbreak in Kenora was in 1937. Little was known about the disease at the time and many, including the local experts in Kenora, believed the disease travelled via summer dust storms. In hindsight we know that’s not the case, but as a parent in 1937 imagine trying to protect your child from dust.

Through the 1940s the disease was kept out of the headlines by the war, but every few years there was a small outbreak or isolated cases. The post-war baby boom provided a target-rich environment for the polio virus to thrive and cases steadily crept up through the late 40s and into the 50s. In March 1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announced that he had discovered a vaccine for polio, but the clinical trials were only just beginning. Together with partners like the Connaught Laboratory at the University of Toronto, Salk would trial his vaccine in 1953 through the end of 1954.

Luckily the summer of 1954 saw only a handful of polio cases, not just in Kenora but across Canada. There were only two confirmed cases across the district— one in Redditt and one in Kenora.  Considerably more people were killed and injured in motor vehicle accidents that summer— shockingly 20 people were killed and many more were injured in July and August alone. 

During the summer and fall of 1954 and into 1955 the Salk vaccine was undergoing successful trials.  On April 12th, 1955 the Salk vaccine was certified as both safe and effective. That same day the Kenora Health Unit announced that all local grade 1 & 2 students would be vaccinated in cohorts at their schools in the coming weeks. When more vaccine was available all students in primary and secondary schools would be vaccinated. The vaccine program was completely free of charge through a federal-provincial partnership. Ontario Premier Leslie Frost said of the vaccination program, “This is the soundest investment we have ever made. We’re not going to fool around. We’re going to get this moving as fast as possible.”

The Salk vaccine required multiple doses, so the first local vaccinations were completed in mid June 1955.  From there vaccinations were carried out every year. Eventually an oral vaccine was rolled out, and by the 1970s polio was uncommon in Canada. Helping this cause were organizations like the March of Dimes and Rotary International, including the Kenora Rotary Club. Together with partners they have raised millions of dollars to help eradicate polio worldwide, and those efforts continue to this day.