Polio

Health emergency declared over global resurgence of polio

Posted on Mon, May 5, 2014 - 12:00am

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A crippling disease that had almost been eradicated is on the move prompting the World Health Organization to declare the spread of polio an international public health emergency.

Pakistan, Cameroon and Syria pose the greatest risk of exporting the contagious virus to other countries, and should ensure that residents have been vaccinated before they travel, the Geneva-based WHO said in a statement Monday. In the past six months, it says, the virus has spread to Syria, Iraq, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Israel and Somalia.