News Outlets Examine Regional Polio Vaccination Campaign In Middle East

The Christian Science Monitor examines polio vaccination efforts in Syria, writing, “[W]ith at least 10 recent confirmed cases of the paralyzing virus, international health workers are worried about a regional outbreak of the virus, particularly given the constant flow of Syrians to neighboring countries.” The news service writes, “Doctors and nurses are giving polio vaccinations to every child registered with the United Nations in Syria’s neighbors, which now host 2.2 million Syrian refugees” (Collard, 11/18). VOA News reports on vaccination efforts in Egypt. The country “was declared polio free in 2006,” but “the same strain of virus causing illness in Syria was found in Cairo’s sewers” last year, the news service notes (Arrott, 11/18). In addition, “Turkey on Monday announced a mass vaccination campaign against an outbreak of polio in areas near neighboring Syria,” according to Agence France-Presse, which writes, “Polio was eradicated in Turkey 15 years ago but the country, which is home to more than 600,000 Syrian refugees, could be at risk from the outbreak of the disease” (11/18).

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