Polio has reappeared in Guinea and Mali five years after the crippling disease was eradicated in the two West African countries. Health experts said on Tuesday there was still a very real threat of a major epidemic spreading across the African continent.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative said it had confirmed one case of polio in Guinea and two in Mali. It also said that three new cases had been recorded in Sudans troubled Darfur region, doubling the number of infections detected there.
The ongoing polio outbreak which originated in northern Nigeria continues to affect new countries, underscoring the threat of a major epidemic across west and central Africa, the organisation said in a statement issued by its headquarters in Geneva.
The Eradication Initiative said on Tuesday it still needed another 50 million dollars to conduct synchronised mass immunisation campaigns in 22 African countries in October and November.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which links governments, private donors, relief agencies and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had hoped to wipe out polio by 2005.
Kilde: IRINNEWS, FN
