Nigeria Responsible For All New Cases Of Polio In Africa - Health Ministry

The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health has revealed that the nation is responsible for the new 14 cases of poliomyelitis that were confirmed in 2013 in Africa. This was revealed in the ministry's Weekly Epidemiology Report.

"So far, 14 confirmed polio cases were reported in 2013 and Nigeria now contributes up to
100% of polio burden in AFRO," the health ministry stated in the report.

Health experts told HealthNewsNg that the latest report may not be unconnected with the incessant disruption in the nation's immunization programmes.

While polio has been eradicated in most parts of the world including several developing nations in Africa, Nigeria is still a strong reservoir of the viral infection that is preventable by early vaccination.

Despite massive vaccination initiatives of the federal ministry of health and its partners, such efforts had met stiff opposition in several parts of the nation especially in the northern region where illiteracy and religious indoctrination had led to the rejection of the polio vaccine and other vaccination programmes