Polio cases rise to 111

JAKARTA: Another 11 cases of polio were confirmed on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 111, the World Health Organization said.

The world body said six new cases were discovered in Serang and five in Lebak, both in Banten, which has been identified as one of the provinces hardest hit by the outbreak.

Two rounds of a mass polio vaccination campaign have been conducted in Banten, Jakarta and West Java since the first polio cases were detected in the West Java town of Sukabumi in April. In the past few weeks, the polio virus has spread to Central Java and Lampung on Sumatra island.

A nationwide immunization campaign is scheduled to start in August. Before the polio cases were discovered in April, Indonesia had been polio-free since 1995. --JP