MOUNT HAGEN, Papua New Guinea — Decades after polio was eradicated from Papua New Guinea, the crippling and sometimes deadly disease has returned, leaving doctors scrambling to revive long-lapsed vaccination programs. Until earlier this year, the polio virus was endemic in only three countries in the world: Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. ADVERTISEMENTBut a relatively rare strain is now spreading throughout rugged, jungle-cloaked Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s poorest countries. ADVERTISEMENTSimilar localized outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio have been previously detected in the Horn of Africa, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the first few days after setting up, she administered more than 100 doses of polio vaccine a day.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 03, 2018 06:56 UTC