Number of polio cases hits 46

Number of polio cases hits 46

JAKARTA: Two weeks before a second mass polio immunization
drive is scheduled to begin, seven more polio cases have been
found, bringing the total number of cases in Indonesia to 46, the
World Health Organization reported on Thursday.

Two of the confirmed cases were detected in Sukabumi, West
Java, where the crippling virus first appeared last March, the
first confirmed cases of polio in the country since 1995, the WHO
said.

Five other cases were found in neighboring Bogor and Lebak
districts, the organization added in a written report.

The number of cases is expected to increase as the Ministry of
Health is still waiting for the results of laboratory tests on
some more people suspected of having the disease.

The health ministry, with the support of WHO and the United
Nations Children's Fund, conducted the first round of a mass
polio vaccination campaign in Banten, Jakarta and West Java,
targeting about 6.4 million children.

The second round of the vaccination campaign is scheduled to
begin June 28. --JP