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Reuters
Polio remains endemic in Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan, say global health officials
A polio outbreak was confirmed in Papua New Guinea, 18 years after the country was declared free from the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the virus was detected in a six-year-old boy in April.
The same strain of the virus has been detected in other healthy children in the same community, which makes it officially an epidemic.
Poliomyelitis does not cure and can lead to irreversible paralysis.
It mainly affects children under five and can only be avoided by administering to a child several doses of vaccine.
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"We are deeply concerned by this case of poliomyelitis in Papua New Guinea and the fact that the virus is circulating," said Pascoe Kase, Papua New Guinea's health secretary.
"Our immediate priority is to respond and prevent more children from being infected.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said late last week that the same virus that was found in the six-year-old boy was also found in samples taken from two healthy children in the US. same community.
This means that the virus is circulating in the community, which is an epidemic, he added.
Immediate measures to stop the spread of highly contagious disease include large-scale vaccination campaigns and strengthening of surveillance systems that help detect it early.
Papua New Guinea has not had wild poliovirus since 1996, and the country was certified polio-free in 2000 with the rest of the WHO Western Pacific Region.
What is polio?
- Polio, or polio, mainly affects children under five
- It is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause complete paralysis within hours
- Initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiff neck and limb pain
- One in every 200 infections causes irreversible paralysis. Of those who are paralyzed, 5% to 10% die when their respiratory muscles are immobilized
- Only three countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria – remain endemic to polio, compared to more than 125 in 1988
Source: World Health Organization
Only 61 percent of children in the affected area – Morobe province on the country's northern coast – currently receive the three recommended doses of polio vaccine, according to the WHO.
Inadequate hygiene and sanitation were also problems, he added.
Due to the region's isolation and planned vaccination, the risk of spreading the virus to other countries is low, said the WHO.
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