The Federal Government has swung into action by directing the deployment of a national emergency response team, to prevent the spread of the polio virus following reports of wild polio virus, WPV, in Borno State.
Confirming the outbreak, the Minister of Health, Prof.Isaac Adewole said the outbreak affected two children from Gwoza and Jere Local Government areas of the state.
He attributed the discovery and confirmation of the outbreak to the country’s strengthened surveillance due to improved accessibility made possible by the recent military action in liberating more communities in the North-Eastern part of the country.
The Minister added,“The detection of children paralyzed by polio shows that surveillance has increased with more access but it is a reminder that the country needs to remain vigilant and immunize all eligible children with oral polio vaccine until polio is completely eradicated worldwide.
“Our overriding priority right now is to rapidly boost immunity in the affected areas to ensure that no more children are affected by this terrible disease.”
