Polio resurfaces in Papua New Guinea
Detection has triggered national emergency response to protect children across the country, says UNICEF
ISTANBUL
Polio has recently resurfaced in the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea.
UNICEF Papua New Guinea said in a statement on Thursday that they are "stepping up support to the government to ensure every child is vaccinated following the detection of poliovirus."
The detection of the virus has triggered the activation of a national emergency response to protect children across the country, said the statement.
Polio was reportedly detected in 2 children.
The last outbreak in the country occurred in 2018.
Papua New Guinea’s Health Minister Elias Kapavore earlier issued a public warning after the virus was detected in wastewater from the capital, Port Moresby, and the city of Lae, according to the PNG Facts online news.
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus, transmitted by person-to-person and, less frequently, by a common vehicle like contaminated water, according to the WHO.
The virus mainly affects children under 5 years of age and has the possibility of leaving one in 200 with irreversible paralysis.
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