Polio spreads to the boundaries of the Gap

■"African Strain Of Polio Virus Hits Indonesia," by Donald G. McNeil, New York Times, 3 May 2005, p. A1.

The Middle East regimes import a lot of guest workers from South and East Asia. Apparently, one of them took some polio back with him or her to Indonesia. This is some classic spreading of the pattern within the Gap until it reaches a boundary condition that stops it-namely the Core.

Indonesia's last case was in 1995, and it is now the 16th country to be reinfected by a strain of the virus that broke out in northern Nigeria when vaccinations stgopped there, then crossed Africa and the Red Sea.

Sad to say, this spread of polio is a connecting phenomenon for the Muslim world, now reaching its most populous nation. As the article notes, "polio is now found almost exclusively in Muslim countries or regions." Why? The bias against vaccinations plus poverty would seem to be the key. Disconnectedness defines danger, as always.