WHO fears new polio outbreak in Sudan

KHARTOUM, jan 3 (AFP) — The World Health Organization expressed fear of a fresh outbreak of polio in Sudan, saying 105 cases have already been reported in various parts of the country.

The organization’s advisor on vaccination, Salaheddine al-Haithami, told a news conference in Khartoum that 40 cases were reported in the capital and a further 21 in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.

He also said the WHO would launch a three-day vaccination campaign between January 10 and 12, as part of an effort to contain the epidemic before it claims more victims.

Speaking at the same news conference, United Nations special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, appealed to the warring parties in the stricken Darfur region to adhere to a truce they signed and allow health workers carry out immunizations.

Government forces have been locked in battle with ethnic minority rebels fighting for greater economic and political autonomy from Khartoum since February 2003 in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

More than 1.6 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict that the UN says has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Sudan was on the verge of being declared a polio-free country as no cases were reported between 2001 and 2004, said Haithami, but added that changed after a case was reported in May 2004.

Health officials believe the disease was brought by west African pilgrims, mostly Nigerians, travelling to the Saudi holy cities of Mecca and Medina through Darfur.

The WHO advisor pointed out that some 40,000 volunteers had been recruited so far for the immunization campaign, which he said would cost about 1.8 million dollars, 1.2 million of which will come from the WHO and the rest provided by the UN Children’s Fund.