World health organization warns of the spread of polio virus

World Health Organization warned of the spread of polio virus during the pilgrimage season after it spread throughout Pakistan and move them to China for the first time since 1999, according to WHO Website. Said Oliver Rosenbauer, spokesman for the World Health Organization that the spread of polio in Pakistan due to the insecurity that stopped the vaccination campaigns in some areas, including the Khyber tribal region. He was discovered nine cases infected with HIV in China until now has six children and three adults, all in the province of Hotan in Xinjiang province in the west of the country, pointing out that all of these cases related to polio virus spread in Pakistan. Rosenbauer pointed out that China had been considered polio-free since the discovery of the last case came from India in 1999. He said that the Chinese authorities were investigating whether the new cases linked to each other has also launched a vaccination campaign targeting millions of Geneva, Sept 21 (TruthDive): The World Health Organization has warned countries on Tuesday that a ‘dangerous’ strain of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) has spread to China from Pakistan for the first time since 1999. Polio was last brought into China from India in 1999. China’s last indigenous case was in 1994. There is a high risk of this crippling virus. Travelers to and from Pakistan should be fully protected by vaccination, the World Health Organization today warned countries ahead of the Hajj season. "The WHO rates as ‘high’ the risk of further international spread of wild polio virus from Pakistan, particularly given the expected large-scale population movements associated with Umra and the upcoming Hajj in the coming months," the Geneva-based body said in a statement. Hajj is the main annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which is due to start in November. Umra refers to other pilgrimages to Mecca, which can take place any time of the year. Polio (also called poliomyelitis) is highly infectious and affects the nervous system, sometimes resulting in paralysis. It is transmitted through contaminated food, drinking water and feces. WHO said a strain of polio (WPV1) found in China was genetically linked with the type now circulating in Pakistan. At least seven cases have now been confirmed in China’s western Xinjiang province, which borders Pakistan. The Chinese authorities are now investigating the cases, and a mass vaccination campaign has been launched in the region. Pakistan is affected by nationwide transmission of WPV1, and is the location of the only wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3) case in Asia in 2011. As at September 13, Pakistan had reported 84 cases, compared to 48 cases for the same period in 2010," it said. WHO spokesman Oliver Rosen Bauer says type 1 is more dangerous than type 3 because it is more likely to cause paralysis and spreads more easily. Type 2 has been eradicated. The global health body says countries should strengthen their disease surveillance systems and travelers to Pakistan should be vaccinated against polio. Pakistan is one of a handful of countries where polio remains endemic. WHO officials had been warned for some time that the virus was spreading within the country to previously uninfected areas The UN’s children fund, UNICEF, has said that eradicating polio from Pakistan depends on delivering oral vaccines to each and every child, including the most vulnerable and the hardest to reach.