Polio cases rises to 14

Polio cases rises to 14

JAKARTA: The government on Wednesday reported six more polio
cases, bringing the total number of children infected by the
virus to 14.

"The six latest confirmed cases came from (blood) samples
taken shortly after the outbreak, so they are not new ones," said
the Ministry of Health's director general for contagious disease
control, Umar Fahmi Ahmadi.

The World Health Organization said three of the newly
confirmed sufferers were from Giri Jaya village in Sukabumi, West
Java, where the first case of polio was found.

The remaining three were children from the neighboring
districts of Lebak and Bogor, it added.

"We are still waiting for the results of laboratory tests on
11 other samples from Girijaya and 31 from Lebak," Umar said.

The government plans to launch a massive polio immunization
campaign for an estimated 4.6 million children below five years
old of age on 31 May until 2 June, covering West Java, Banten and
Jakarta provinces.

The virus, which has not been found in Indonesia since 1995,
was believed to have been carried in by Indonesian migrant
workers or haj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia. -- JP