Pakistan suspected origin of polio in Syria
PESHAWAR:
High-ranking officials working for the polio eradication programme have indicated that there is a possibility that the ongoing poliovirus outbreak in Syria that recently left ten children paralysed after 14 years, originated from Pakistan.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Polio Eradication Chief Dr Elias Durry, while taking to The Express Tribune, said that the Regional Reference Laboratory had not yet completed the genetic analysis of the virus found in Syria and there was a possibility that the virus had originated from Pakistan.
“We have laboratory proof that viruses isolated in Palestine and Egypt originated from Pakistan but, until the genetic analysis of the Syrian poliovirus is not complete, we cannot be certain that it is of the same strain,” he said adding that the possibility was due to the ongoing poliovirus circulation in the region.
The global battle against the polio virus has largely been a success story, with the total number of cases being reduced from 350,000 in 1988 to 223 last year. India, which once accounted for half of the world’s cases of polio, was taken off the endemic list in 2012 after a massive public health campaign. But with a sizeable number of cases confirmed in Somalia and Kenya, and now probably Syria, the number of cases will this year represent an increase rather than a fall – the first upward trend since 2008. There were also a handful of cases reported in Cameroon, south Sudan and Ethiopia and this year’s total already stands at 301, before the cases in Syria are added.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/625038/startling-development-pakistan-suspected-origin-of-polio-in-syria/
Above is from 31st October but apparently the WHO confirmed this to be the case yesterday 11th November. Basic details here within this general news link :
Polio strain in Syria has roots in Pakistan - WHO report
An outbreak of polio that has already paralyzed 13 children in Syria originated in Pakistan, the World Health Organization confirmed on Monday. "Genetic sequencing indicates that the isolated viruses are most closely linked to a virus detected in environmental samples in Egypt in December 2012, which in turn had been linked to wild poliovirus circulating in Pakistan," says the UN health agency. The United Nations has already launched a large-scale campaign to vaccinate more than 20 million children in the Middle East, including 1.6 million in Syria. This disease mainly affects children under five and cannot be cured, only prevented. However, the current situation in Syria with numerous clashes between government forces and the opposition may hamper vaccination procedures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus, says the WHO.
http://rt.com/news/line/2013-11-12/
