The Travel Doctor
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Polio in Kenya
Monday, 25 May, 2009
Kenya, which eradicated polio 25 years ago, has recorded 13 new cases of the virus in three months. The new cases were reported in northern Turkana district which borders Ethiopia and Somalia. In 2006 Kenya reported a case after two decades of freedom from the disease. This case was confirmed to have originated in Somalia. The country issued an alert in February this year after a case of a rare wild polio was confirmed suspected to have been imported from southern Sudan.
Polio remains endemic in just four countries in the world, the hotbed being Nigeria, followed by India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan but the International Red Cross last month warned that a polio outbreak now affects 15 African countries and could threaten efforts to eradicate the disease.
Most Australians and new Zealanders will have had polio vaccination as a routine childhood vaccination but may not have had a further dose as an adult which boosts antibody response for life. Travellers to Africa in general are strongly advised to update polio vaccination.
