Polio case prompts campaign in Kabul

Afghanistan launched a three-day vaccination campaign Tuesday after a 3-year-old girl was diagnosed with polio in the capital Kabul.

The Health Ministry said the girl became paralyzed, and she was diagnosed as the nation’s first polio case in more than 10 years.

“We immediately launch a three-day campaign to prevent the transfer of polio virus to other children,” it said.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria are the only three countries in the world where the disease is endemic, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

A health worker in Kabul told DPA that the disease had been nearly eradicated in the country.

“The ministry found the first case of polio and launched the extraordinary vaccination campaign in winter in Kabul,” Mohammad Javed said.

The vaccinations are normally launched during the summer.

“Each team goes to 320 houses per day and asks if they have children under the age of 5 who have not been vaccinated,” Javed said.

Unlike in Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban militants have said they would not threaten the vaccination campaigners.