Angola tries to stamp out polio
2005-07-29 15:00
Luanda - Angolan authorities started a three-day effort to vaccinate an estimated five million children against polio on Friday following the country's first cases of the crippling disease since 2001.
Medical staff fanned out across the southwest African nation to administer vaccinations to all children under five, the health ministry said.
Within the space of 10 days early this month two cases were diagnosed 400km apart, prompting fears the disease could be spreading.
Both cases were tied to a strain of the virus found in India. The United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) is investigating how it made its way to southwest Africa.
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The UN health agency hopes to meet a deadline to stamp out polio in the world by year's end, but outbreaks in places like Angola, Nigeria and Indonesia are worrying.
Public health and sanitary structures in Angola are weak after a protracted civil war which ended in 2002.
Polio is spread when people who are not vaccinated come into contact with the faeces of those with the virus, often through water.
The campaign is the first of two planned national immunisation rounds. The second is due next month, and the health ministry said it hopes to organise a third round.
It normally takes several doses spread out over a few months to fully protect children from polio. However, in emergencies such as outbreaks, health authorities generally launch three rounds of vaccination for all children under five. The doses are given once every four to six weeks.
- AP