Polio strain from Africa is confirmed in Indonesia By Donald G. McNeil Jr. The New York Times
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2005 http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/03/news/polio.php NEW YORK A case of polio has been detected in an Indonesian baby, according to World Health Organization officials, indicating that an outbreak spreading from northern Nigeria since 2003 has crossed an ocean and reached the fourth most populous country. The virus, found in a village on the island of Java, is most closely related to a strain that was found in Saudi Arabia in December, the officials said. The virus was probably carried there either by an Indonesian who had worked in Saudi Arabia or by a pilgrim who had gone to Mecca in January. Indonesia's last polio case was in 1995, and it is now the 16th country to be reinfected by a strain of the virus that broke out in northern Nigeria when vaccinations stopped there and then crossed Africa and the Red Sea. The health officials recommended that Indonesia immediately vaccinate five million children on the western end of Java, including those in the capital, Jakarta. The country began planning such a drive last week, they said. Indonesia has more Muslims than any other nation, and polio is now found almost exclusively in Muslim countries or regions. Opposition to polio vaccinations has been high from northern Nigeria to the Pakistan frontier because of persistent rumors that it is a Western plot to render Muslim girls infertile or to spread AIDS. After several states in Muslim northern Nigeria halted vaccinations in 2003, it was purchases of Indonesian vaccine that finally persuaded wary imams and politicians to drop their opposition, because it is a Muslim country. With each new case, the WHO's goal of eradicating polio by the end of this year slips further away. With its emergency response fund virtually depleted, the organization has begun pleading with donors for help with containing new outbreaks in Ethiopia, Yemen and other very poor countries. At the disease's low point, in early 2003, it was endemic in only six countries: Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The latest case was found in a village in Sukabumi Province in West Java in an 18-month-old boy who became paralyzed in mid-March, Dr. Bruce Aylward, coordinator of the polio eradication campaign for the WHO, said Monday. Genetic typing of the virus, just completed in Mumbai, India, clearly shows that the original source of the strain was northern Nigeria, said Dr. David Heymann, the WHO director general's representative for polio eradication. Dr. Christopher Maher, chief of technical support in the health organization's polio division, visited Sukabumi last week and found that the child had no family members who had traveled to areas where polio was endemic, but other people in the village had recently gone to Saudi Arabia as guest workers or pilgrims. The village has other cases of paralysis that "are very hot; they clinically look like polio," Aylward said. Their presence suggests widespread circulation of the virus, since only one case in 200 produces paralysis. Many countries stopped vaccinating or cut back when they eliminated polio in the 1990s. "We're paying a penalty for that now," Aylward said. NEW YORK A case of polio has been detected in an Indonesian baby, according to World Health Organization officials, indicating that an outbreak spreading from northern Nigeria since 2003 has crossed an ocean and reached the fourth most populous country. The virus, found in a village on the island of Java, is most closely related to a strain that was found in Saudi Arabia in December, the officials said. The virus was probably carried there either by an Indonesian who had worked in Saudi Arabia or by a pilgrim who had gone to Mecca in January. Indonesia's last polio case was in 1995, and it is now the 16th country to be reinfected by a strain of the virus that broke out in northern Nigeria when vaccinations stopped there and then crossed Africa and the Red Sea. The health officials recommended that Indonesia immediately vaccinate five million children on the western end of Java, including those in the capital, Jakarta. The country began planning such a drive last week, they said. Indonesia has more Muslims than any other nation, and polio is now found almost exclusively in Muslim countries or regions. Opposition to polio vaccinations has been high from northern Nigeria to the Pakistan frontier because of persistent rumors that it is a Western plot to render Muslim girls infertile or to spread AIDS. After several states in Muslim northern Nigeria halted vaccinations in 2003, it was purchases of Indonesian vaccine that finally persuaded wary imams and politicians to drop their opposition, because it is a Muslim country. With each new case, the WHO's goal of eradicating polio by the end of this year slips further away. With its emergency response fund virtually depleted, the organization has begun pleading with donors for help with containing new outbreaks in Ethiopia, Yemen and other very poor countries. At the disease's low point, in early 2003, it was endemic in only six countries: Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The latest case was found in a village in Sukabumi Province in West Java in an 18-month-old boy who became paralyzed in mid-March, Dr. Bruce Aylward, coordinator of the polio eradication campaign for the WHO, said Monday. Genetic typing of the virus, just completed in Mumbai, India, clearly shows that the original source of the strain was northern Nigeria, said Dr. David Heymann, the WHO director general's representative for polio eradication. Dr. Christopher Maher, chief of technical support in the health organization's polio division, visited Sukabumi last week and found that the child had no family members who had traveled to areas where polio was endemic, but other people in the village had recently gone to Saudi Arabia as guest workers or pilgrims. The village has other cases of paralysis that "are very hot; they clinically look like polio," Aylward said. Their presence suggests widespread circulation of the virus, since only one case in 200 produces paralysis. Many countries stopped vaccinating or cut back when they eliminated polio in the 1990s. "We're paying a penalty for that now," Aylward said. NEW YORK A case of polio has been detected in an Indonesian baby, according to World Health Organization officials, indicating that an outbreak spreading from northern Nigeria since 2003 has crossed an ocean and reached the fourth most populous country. The virus, found in a village on the island of Java, is most closely related to a strain that was found in Saudi Arabia in December, the officials said. The virus was probably carried there either by an Indonesian who had worked in Saudi Arabia or by a pilgrim who had gone to Mecca in January. Indonesia's last polio case was in 1995, and it is now the 16th country to be reinfected by a strain of the virus that broke out in northern Nigeria when vaccinations stopped there and then crossed Africa and the Red Sea. The health officials recommended that Indonesia immediately vaccinate five million children on the western end of Java, including those in the capital, Jakarta. The country began planning such a drive last week, they said. Indonesia has more Muslims than any other nation, and polio is now found almost exclusively in Muslim countries or regions. Opposition to polio vaccinations has been high from northern Nigeria to the Pakistan frontier because of persistent rumors that it is a Western plot to render Muslim girls infertile or to spread AIDS. After several states in Muslim northern Nigeria halted vaccinations in 2003, it was purchases of Indonesian vaccine that finally persuaded wary imams and politicians to drop their opposition, because it is a Muslim country. With each new case, the WHO's goal of eradicating polio by the end of this year slips further away. With its emergency response fund virtually depleted, the organization has begun pleading with donors for help with containing new outbreaks in Ethiopia, Yemen and other very poor countries. At the disease's low point, in early 2003, it was endemic in only six countries: Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The latest case was found in a village in Sukabumi Province in West Java in an 18-month-old boy who became paralyzed in mid-March, Dr. Bruce Aylward, coordinator of the polio eradication campaign for the WHO, said Monday. Genetic typing of the virus, just completed in Mumbai, India, clearly shows that the original source of the strain was northern Nigeria, said Dr. David Heymann, the WHO director general's representative for polio eradication. Dr. Christopher Maher, chief of technical support in the health organization's polio division, visited Sukabumi last week and found that the child had no family members who had traveled to areas where polio was endemic, but other people in the village had recently gone to Saudi Arabia as guest workers or pilgrims. The village has other cases of paralysis that "are very hot; they clinically look like polio," Aylward said. Their presence suggests widespread circulation of the virus, since only one case in 200 produces paralysis. Many countries stopped vaccinating or cut back when they eliminated polio in the 1990s. "We're paying a penalty for that now," Aylward said. NEW YORK A case of polio has been detected in an Indonesian baby, according to World Health Organization officials, indicating that an outbreak spreading from northern Nigeria since 2003 has crossed an ocean and reached the fourth most populous country. The virus, found in a village on the island of Java, is most closely related to a strain that was found in Saudi Arabia in December, the officials said. The virus was probably carried there either by an Indonesian who had worked in Saudi Arabia or by a pilgrim who had gone to Mecca in January. Indonesia's last polio case was in 1995, and it is now the 16th country to be reinfected by a strain of the virus that broke out in northern Nigeria when vaccinations stopped there and then crossed Africa and the Red Sea. The health officials recommended that Indonesia immediately vaccinate five million children on the western end of Java, including those in the capital, Jakarta. The country began planning such a drive last week, they said. Indonesia has more Muslims than any other nation, and polio is now found almost exclusively in Muslim countries or regions. Opposition to polio vaccinations has been high from northern Nigeria to the Pakistan frontier because of persistent rumors that it is a Western plot to render Muslim girls infertile or to spread AIDS. After several states in Muslim northern Nigeria halted vaccinations in 2003, it was purchases of Indonesian vaccine that finally persuaded wary imams and politicians to drop their opposition, because it is a Muslim country. With each new case, the WHO's goal of eradicating polio by the end of this year slips further away. With its emergency response fund virtually depleted, the organization has begun pleading with donors for help with containing new outbreaks in Ethiopia, Yemen and other very poor countries. At the disease's low point, in early 2003, it was endemic in only six countries: Nigeria, Niger, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. The latest case was found in a village in Sukabumi Province in West Java in an 18-month-old boy who became paralyzed in mid-March, Dr. Bruce Aylward, coordinator of the polio eradication campaign for the WHO, said Monday. Genetic typing of the virus, just completed in Mumbai, India, clearly shows that the original source of the strain was northern Nigeria, said Dr. David Heymann, the WHO director general's representative for polio eradication. Dr. Christopher Maher, chief of technical support in the health organization's polio division, visited Sukabumi last week and found that the child had no family members who had traveled to areas where polio was endemic, but other people in the village had recently gone to Saudi Arabia as guest workers or pilgrims. The village has other cases of paralysis that "are very hot; they clinically look like polio," Aylward said. Their presence suggests widespread circulation of the virus, since only one case in 200 produces paralysis. Many countries stopped vaccinating or cut back when they eliminated polio in the 1990s. "We're paying a penalty for that now," Aylward said. Mario Gagho Agra University www.ppi-india.org --------- A WINNER works harder than a loser and has more time. A LOSER is always "too busy" to do what is necessary. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/5F6XtA/.WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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