India reports 25 new cases of polio
Pastor Dale Morgan
*India reports 25 new cases of polio*
From correspondents in Lucknow, India
November 11, 2006 11:21pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
INDIA has announced 25 new cases of polio in a week from the country's
north, one day ahead of the launch of an emergency vaccination drive for
120 million children.
The new numbers take the regional tally to 438 and were reported from
the worst-hit Uttar Pradesh state, which has registered more than a
quarter of the world total.
"Health officials will launch an extensive door-to-door campaign to
vaccinate 50 million children below five years of age in the state as
polio virus has spread to new districts," A.K. Mishra, the state's top
health official, said.
The polio outbreak in Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state,
has raised fears that the disease could spread abroad from India if the
outbreak is not rapidly brought under control.
The disease is caused by a virus which affects the nervous system and is
transmitted through faeces. It can paralyse a child for life within hours.
In a separate tally, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative,
spearheaded by the Geneva-based World Health Organisation, put the
nationwide number at 490 up to Wednesday – more than ten times the
amount of cases in the same period last year.
Federal health workers, along with the United Nations Children's Fund
and the World Health Organisation, were due to vaccinate more than 120
million children nationwide over three days beginning tomorrow.