Polio outbreak reported in Nigerian state that shunned vaccination

A suspected polio outbreak was reported Friday among children in a heavily Muslim Nigerian state that had boycotted immunizations campaigns.

A suspected polio outbreak was reported Friday among children in a heavily Muslim Nigerian state that had boycotted immunizations campaigns. Officials in the Kano state city of Rogo said there have been dozens of suspected polio cases in recent weeks. The World Health Organization said it couldn’t confirm the outbreak until a team that it has sent to the area finishes an assessment. Kano was on of several states in northern Nigeria that had shunned polio vaccination drives over suspicions the vaccines were part of a U.S.-led plot to render Muslims sterile. Nasril Dalha, city council vice chairman, told local Freedom Radio that the city is seeking help from Kano’s state government. “If this is not addressed quickly, I’m afraid more children will be affected,” he said. WHO officials in Geneva said this week that they expected immunization to resume in Kano within days. Local officials in Kano have not yet publicly committed to a date. Since Kano suspended polio immunization, there has been a resurgence of cases across 10 African countries previously polio-free, with strains traced to Nigeria. Nigeria has reported 259 polio cases this year. The figure represents more than 60 percent of the 339 cases reported worldwide. (Source: Associated Press, July 2004)