TBD
New polio case is detected in Afghanistan
A new case of polio has been detected in the north-eastern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.
Doctor administering polio vaccine
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF say the region has been free of polio for over a decade.
The initial assumption was that the source of the virus in the Imam Sahib district might have been neighbouring Tajikistan which is currently experiencing a large polio outbreak.
However, they add, it now seems that the polio virus might have been the result of cross-border population movement from neighbouring Pakistan.
The Ministry of Public Health, WHO and UNICEF have devised a rapid response plan to vaccinate 1.5 million children under five years of age to prevent further circulation and spread of the virus.
The highly infectious and sometimes fatal disease has disappeared in most of the world but remains endemic in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria.
The two UN agencies say that major eradication efforts are still ongoing in these countries.
Joselyne Sambira, UN Radio
(duration: 1'03")
