Uganda to launch emergency immunization on polio outbreak

KAMPALA, Feb. 26 (Chinese media) -- Uganda is to launch an emergency vaccination mid next month for all children below five years in most parts of the country following a confirmed case of polio, a statement said here on Thursday.

The sample from a 16-month baby in Amuru district, northern Uganda, was confirmed positive with polio virus, the first case in the polio-free East African country since 1996, said a statement from the health ministry.

Sam Zaramba, director general of health services, said that confirmatory tests sent to the African Regional Reference Laboratory in South Africa confirmed the Wild Polio Virus type one outbreak.

"Now that the virus has finally entered the country, all the children below five years are at risk of contracting the disease because the wild-type of polio virus is very infectious and can challenge their defense systems," he said.

The ministry with support from WHO and UN Children's Fund is planning to conduct an emergency vaccination mid next month for all children below five years in northern, northeastern, northwestern and parts of western Uganda.

"The ministry appeals to every parent or caretakers responsible for children below five years to ensure they are fully immunized," he said.

District authorities have been put on alert to mobilize the communities to immunize the children so that the disease does not spread beyond the community it has been confirmed.

"Parents caretakers should visit the nearest health centers or hospitals to update their immunization status The Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization has enough vaccines and other necessary supplies to cover all the eligible children," Zaramba said.

The health ministry warned last year that the country is under threat of importing the wild polio virus from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan after the World Health Organization confirmed each case of the virus in each of them.

Due to free movement of people for trade and cultural reasons between Uganda and DR Congo and southern Sudan, it is more likely to import the virus than ever.

When the virus invades nerve cells of the brain or spinal cord, it results in paralysis of muscles that control swallowing/breathing, and renders a victim's limbs, legs and the body trunk flaccid.

Globally, polio is a diminishing disease, occurring more on the Indian subcontinent and parts of west and central Africa. Uganda has been free of the wild polio virus since 1996 and was certified polio-free in October 2006.