Health Officials Consider Polio Immunization Campaign In War-Torn Raqqa, Syria; Pakistan Reports New Wild Polio Case

CIDRAP News: Syria, Pakistan report new polio cases
“Another child in Raqqa, the ISIS-held city in Syria, is paralyzed after being infected with vaccine-derived polio virus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This is the second case in Raqqa reported in recent weeks. To date, there have been 24 cases of type 2 vaccine-derived polio in Syria this year. … Meanwhile, media reports from Pakistan said the fourth wild polio case has been detected in an 18-month old from the city of Chaman in Balochistan province…” (Soucheray, 7/5).

STAT: Emergency polio vaccinations considered in Raqqa following new report of paralysis
“…[T]he World Health Organization and UNICEF [are] in talks with the Syrian government over whether an emergency vaccination effort can be mounted there. … The new case, however, suggests the outbreak may be spreading in Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State, said Michel Zaffran, director of the WHO’s polio program. Officials acknowledge carrying out an emergency vaccination effort there could be exceedingly complicated…” (Branswell, 7/4).

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