Ethiopia reports polio outbreak near Sudan border

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Mar 2, 2005 (PANA) — Ethiopia’s accreditation as a polio-free country is in jeopardy after the detection of two cases of the debilitating disease in the northern Tigray Region, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said here.

A Sudanese Red Crescent employee vaccinates a boy against polio. (AFP)..

Health authorities have confirmed that two children, living in different areas of Tigray, have contracted polio. One of the victims is a two-year-old girl.

Following the outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has listed Ethiopia as the 14th country to be infected with the polio virus.

This is Ethiopia’s first outbreak in four years and the Health ministry believes the virus came from neighbouring Sudan.

The ministry and WHO have sent a team of experts to Tigray to
assess the situation.

Meanwhile, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is conducting
a massive Africa-wide polio vaccination campaign aimed at
stamping out the virus globally by the end of the year.