Polio jumps an ocean to Indonesia
The WHO Polio Eradication Website confirmed a case of polio in West Java, Indonesia, on May 2, 2005. Indonesia has not seen a case of wild poliovirus since 1995. Genetic analysis of the virus from the 18-month-old child, who is paralyzed, suggests the virus traveled to Indonesia through Sudan and is similar to recently isolated viruses in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It's unclear if there are other cases, but since usually only 1 case in 200 results in paralysis there may be others.
The Ministry of Health Indonesia will immunize all of the children under the age of 5 in West Java, Banten, and Jakarta Provinces. This should quickly contain the outbreak. Global eradication efforts have reduced the number of polio cases from 350,000 annually in 1988 to 1,267 cases in 2004 and 92 cases so far this year (compared to 112 this time last year). Six countries remain polio-endemic, with a further six where polio transmission is re-established. The goal was to eradicate polio by the end of this year, but that seems more unlikely with this new case in Indonesia. In the United States, 90% of children receive polio vaccinations and should be protected.
Read the May 3, 2005 article in the New York Times.
Learn more about polio eradication from the World Health Organization
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Officials in Yemen are trying to stamp out a fast-moving polio outbreak through a national campaign to vaccinate all children under 5. (Yemen has reported 41 cases, up from 22 late last month.) The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is shipping in 6 million doses of the vaccine. Also, 10 experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are working with the national coordinators and training vaccinators and supervisors.
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