Kenya Records 13 Polio Cases in New Outbreak

Kenya, which eradicated polio 25 years ago, has recorded 13 new cases of the virus in three months, health officials said Wednesday.

Public health director Shahnaaz Sharif said the new cases were reported in northern Turkana district which borders Ethiopia and war-torn Somalia.

Poliomyelitis - About
Polio is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. It results in paralysis and generally affects people of all age groups, children being more susceptible

The country issued an alert in February after a case of a rare wild polio was confirmed. The case sparked an emergency nationwide vaccination drive.

But Sharif blamed the latest outbreak on poor routine polio immunisation. He said the February case was suspected to have been imported from southern Sudan.

Kenya reported a first case of polio in more than two decades in 2006, confirmed to have orginated in Somalia.

Immunization in Children - Trivalent oral polio vaccine TOPV
Poliomyelitis is caused by poliovirus, an entero virus and there are 3 types, type 1,2 & 3. Vaccines against poliomyelitis are available in 2 forms, Salk developed IPV and TOPV was developed by Sabin.

Polio remains endemic in just four countries in the world, the hotbed being Nigeria, followed by India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

The International Red Cross last month warned that a polio outbreak now affects 15 African countries and could threaten efforts to eradicate the disease.

West Africa Launches Massive Immunization Drive Against Polio
Fifty three million children, including every child in Nigeria, are being targeted by a mass immunization drive against polio in eight west African countries, the UN Children's Fund said.

Some strains of polio can cause paralysis and even lead to death. The disease is transmitted via contaminated food, water and faeces.

Source-AFP
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Kenya On Alert After 4-year-Old Girl Confirmed of Polio
Kenya on Wednesday issued a polio alert after a rare case was confirmed in a young girl in a northern region near the border with Sudan, a health official said.