Polio cases soar to 34

JAKARTA: Indonesia has seen six more cases of polio confirmed, bringing the total number of children afflicted with the crippling virus to 34, the World Health Organization reported on Friday.

One of the newly confirmed cases came from the West Java regency of Sukabumi, where the first polio case was found in April, while the remaining five were found in the neighboring regencies of Lebak, Cianjur and Bogor.

The polio cases could increase further in the near future as the Ministry of Health and WHO are waiting for the results of laboratory tests on 40 other stool samples.

The polio outbreak reemerged in April after Indonesia had been declared a polio-free country in 1995.

The health ministry, in cooperation with the WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund, launched a mass polio vaccination program in Banten, Jakarta and West Java provinces on May 31 and scheduled another for June 28.--JP