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Polio can only be
prevented through immunization AFP
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Just when Africa was
about to mark two years without a case of the wild polio virus, the
debilitating disease is reported to have returned, this time in Borno
State, north-eastern Nigeria.
BBC
Africa Live report continues:
The
disappointment was immediately clear.
The
Nigerian Health Minister Isaac Adewole described the discovery of two
new cases as a setback.
WHO's
Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said she was deeply saddened.
But
how could the virus have "disappeared" for two years before
re-emerging?
WHO
said there was a possible low-level transmission during that period.
But
as long as children are vaccinated there is a good chance of it
stopping the spread.
Mass Polio
Vaccination Programme For Nigeria
The
UN says a mass vaccination campaign will get underway within 10 days
to contain an outbreak of polio in northern Nigeria.
Two
children have been left paralyzed by the virus - the first instances of the disease
in Africa in two years.
The
leader of UNICEF's polio team, Reza Hossaini, said all children in Nigeria's
north-eastern Borno state would be vaccinated immediately, and the
campaign would then be broadened to include all five million vulnerable
children in adjacent states.
Mr
Hossaini said he was not surprised by the re-emergence of polio, explaining
that was why the UN waited three years before declaring a country free of the
disease.
Borno
state is at the centre of the campaign by militant Islamist
group Boko Haram against the Nigerian government.
Nigeria To Start Emergency Polio Campaign
BBC
News reports that Nigeria has announced an emergency mass polio vaccination
campaign in the north-east after two new cases emerged.
They
were the first incidences of the highly infectious disease in Africa for two
years.
The
government said polio paralyzed two children in Borno state, a part of Nigeria
where Boko Haram militants have hindered health campaigns.
The
development is seen as a major setback for Nigeria, which was on track to be
declared polio free in 2017.
The
cases were confirmed exactly two years after Africa's last previous case - in
the Puntland region of Somalia, on 11 August 2014.
Nigeria's
government said that one million children would be immunized in the affected
areas in Borno and a further four million will also be targeted in neighbouring
states.
Health
Minister Isaac Adewole said the priority was to "boost immunity" and
"ensure that no more children are affected by this terrible disease".
The
Nigerian authorities, along with experts from the World Health Organization
(WHO), are currently investigating the situation to find out where the virus
has spread.
The
mass vaccination could start "as soon as next week", WHO Director for
Polio Eradication Michel Zaffran told the BBC Newsday programme.
The
militant Islamist Boko Haram insurgency in north-east Nigeria has made some
areas of Borno hard to access in recent years.
The
fact that these two cases have been discovered was a result of increased health
surveillance in the north-east, which was made possible by military success
against Boko Haram, the government said.
Why Did Polio
Return? By Anne Soy, BBC Africa Health Correspondent
Just
when Africa thought it had gone two years without a case of wild polio virus,
the debilitating disease reared its head again.
The
disappointment was immediately clear.
Nigerian
Health Minister Isaac Adewole described the two new cases as a setback.
WHO's
Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said she was deeply saddened.
But
how could the virus have "disappeared" for two years before
re-emerging?
WHO
said there was possible low-level transmission during that period.
About
one in 200 cases of infection results in paralysis.
As
long as there are unvaccinated children, there will be a good chance of it
surviving and spreading.
The
answer for now is to vaccinate all children under five.
Nigeria
has made a lot of progress in reversing the spread of polio in the last five
years.
In
2012, the country had more than half of all polio cases worldwide, the WHO
says.
The
WHO puts the reduction down to a "concerted effort by all levels of
government, civil society, religious leaders and tens of thousands of dedicated
health workers".
In
order for the WHO to declare a country free of polio it has to go three years
without a new case.
Polio
is a viral disease that usually affects children and can only be prevented
through immunization.
It
is spread by poor sanitation and contaminated water.
What Is Polio?
o
Polio,
or poliomyelitis, mainly affects children aged under five
o
It
is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system
and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours
o
Initial
symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and
pains in the limbs
o
One
in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, 5% to
10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilised
o
Today,
only two countries - Afghanistan and Pakistan - remain polio-endemic, down from
more than 125 in 1988
Source: World Health
Organization
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