from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) – AN outbreak of polio in Sudan has left no less than 14 children paralysed.
Some 13 states, out of the country’s total of 18 states, are affected by the disease that is thought to be emanating from a vaccine..
Of the five new cases, two were reported from the eastern Kassala state.
Other cases have been reported from Gezira, River Nile and Red Sea states.
Dates of onset vary between September 17 – 30, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO).
The agencies are planning the first round of the outbreak response to begin on November 28.
Vaccinators aim to reach 8,6 million children under five in all states of the country.
A second vaccination round is planned for December.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus.
The virus spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis.
However, most people (over 70 percent) who get infected with poliovirus will not have any visible symptoms.
Globally, health experts had initially aimed to wipe out the disease by 2020.
– CAJ News