Reuters: Syrian polio outbreak hits global effort to eradicate virus
“A polio outbreak has been confirmed in an area of Syria partly held by Islamic State, the first re-emergence of the virus in Syria since 2014, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and the World Health Organization said on Thursday…” (Miles, 6/8).

STAT: Polio outbreak is reported in Syria, WHO says
“…Detailed planning is already underway for emergency vaccination programs to reach about 200,000 children in the region, Michel Zaffran, head of the WHO’s polio program, told STAT. The government of Syria has made a formal request for the emergency vaccination effort, he said. … The new cases are vaccine-derived polioviruses — viruses from the oral polio vaccine used in some developing countries — and not an indication that the viruses are spreading as they are in Afghanistan and Pakistan…” (Branswell, 6/8).