Somalia’s ‘explosive’ polio outbreak
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Somalia is suffering an “explosive” outbreak of polio and now has more cases — 105 — than all other countries in the world combined, a World Health Organization official said yesterday. The outbreak is complicated by the fact health workers have limited access to south-central Somalia, controlled by al-Qaida-linked militants.
Health officials are responding with vaccination campaigns that have reached 4 million people since the outbreak began in May, but those health officials have limited access to about 600,000 children who live in areas of Somalia controlled by the armed Islamist group al-Shabab.
As well as these cases, another 10 have been confirmed across the border in Kenya in what is essentially the same outbreak.
“It’s very worrying because it’s an explosive outbreak and of course polio is a disease that is slated for eradication,” said Oliver Rosenbauer, a spokesman for the global polio eradication initiative at the World Health Organization in Geneva.
“In fact we’re seeing more cases in this area this year than in the three endemic countries worldwide.”
Polio is considered eradicated globally except for those three endemic countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.
Rosenbauer said polio numbers are down in those three countries.
Globally, there have been 181 polio cases this year — including those in Somalia and Kenya. Somalia was removed from the list of endemic polio countries in 2001, but this year’s outbreak is the second since then.
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