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New polio cases in Kenya
Friday, 27 February, 2009
According to newspaper reports Polio has been detected in Kenya for the first time in 20 years. The infection has been confirmed in a 4 year-old girl and suspected in an infant, both from the Turkana District of northern Kenya.
Last year the disease was detected in Sudanese refugees and it is suspected that the indigenous cases are a spillover from southern Sudan. Immunisation campaigns in Kenya had been disrupted by the political problems of 2007/8.
The government, in collaboration with WHO and UNICEF, will carry out an emergency polio immunisation campaign targeting 96,000 children aged five years and below in the district.
Travellers and tourists should ensure that polio immunisation is up to date. Provided that the primary course of vaccination has been carried out in early childhood one booster dose in adult life is considered sufficient.
