WHO warns of a polio epidemic in Africa

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7455.1513

BMJ 2004;328:1513 (26 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7455.1513

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WHO warns of a polio epidemic in Africa

Fiona Fleck

Geneva

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Africa could be on the brink of a major poliomyelitis epidemicafter a child in Sudan's crisis ridden Dafur region was foundto have been paralysed by the disease last month, World HealthOrganization officials warned on Tuesday.

It was the first confirmed case of polio, which mainly affectschildren under the age of five, in the country for three years.

Sudan is the tenth African country in which the disease hasreappeared since Nigeria's Islamic states suspended immunisationlast August. WHO officials believe that the virus travelledfrom Nigeria across Chad to Sudan.

"The virus is spreading at an alarming pace," said David Heymann,the WHO epidemiologist in charge of the global polio eradicationcampaign.

"African countries have worked rapidly and effectively to eradicatepolio; now the tragedy is that many of them are becoming reinfected,"Dr Heymann said.

Nigeria's failure to participate fully in the programme hasbeen . . . [Full text of this article]

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