Nigeria has reported its third polio case in the northeastern state of<\/p>\n
Borno, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday, warning more cases
\ncould appear in a major health setback.<\/p>\n
Two other polio cases were reported in August.<\/p>\n
Nigeria was on track to be certified free of the virus next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cA third child has been paralyzed by wild poliovirus type one (WPV1) in
\nBorno state,\u201d WHO said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all linked to the same outbreak,\u201d WHO said, adding: \u201cdetection of
\nnew cases is not unexpected and can be anticipated, particularly as
\ndisease surveillance is being strengthened including by conducting
\nretrospective case searches.\u201d<\/p>\n
The three cases appear to come from the same strain of the disease
\ncirculating in the northeast for years, said Stephanie Mucznik,
\nspokesperson for Rotary International, which is working with the Nigerian
\ngovernment to eradicate polio.<\/p>\n
Mucznik said the latest case concerned a two-year-old boy suffering from
\nthe onset of paralysis on August 6 in the Monguno area.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenetic sequencing of the isolated viruses suggests they are most closely
\nlinked to WPV1 last detected in Borno in 2011, indicating the strain has
\nbeen circulating without detection since that time,\u201d Mucznik said.<\/p>\n
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease which mainly affects young
\nchildren and can result in permanent paralysis. There is no cure and it
\ncan only be prevented through immunisation.<\/p>\n
Nigeria\u2019s outbreak response, which includes a large immunisation campaign,
\nis expected to continue until November and includes the neighbouring areas
\nof Chad, Cameroon and Niger.<\/p>\n
Nigerian Health Minister Isaac Adewole warned in August that the affected
\nareas \u201chave had their health facilities destroyed by insurgents\u201d and
\n\u201caccessibility was a barrier to service provision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since taking up arms in 2009, Boko Haram Islamist militants have captured
\nswathes of territory in the northeast, cutting off health services for
\nmillions of people.<\/p>\n
In the past year, the Nigerian military has recorded a series of successes
\nagainst Boko Haram.<\/p>\n
But the northeast has been devastated by the fighting, with the United
\nNations estimating that this year seven million people are in need of
\nhumanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria has reported its third polio case in the northeastern state of Borno, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday, warning more cases could appear in a major health setback.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n