POLIO OUTBREAK THREATENS NAMIBIA

The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that increasing numbers of people around the world are vulnerable to polio because they have not been previously exposed to the disease. According to WHO, adults who missed being vaccinated as children and who have not been exposed to the virus are most at risk.

There have apparently been 19 confirmed and 150 suspected polio cases in Namibia, which had been polio-free since 1995, and immunization programs are being implemented there again. The virus arrived in Namibia by way of Angola, but the outbreak has been traced back to part of India where the disease remains endemic. WHO says there are bigger immunization gaps now than at any time in the last 25 years.

Polio is transmitted through contaminated food and drinking water. Although it has been eradicated in much of the world it is still endemic in some countries, such as Nigeria and India. Most polio outbreaks affect children under five, but those affected in the Namibian outbreak have been between 15 and 45.