DUSHANBE, April 30, 2010, Asia-Plus — Deputy Health Minister also Head Sanitary Physician of Tajikistan, Azamjon Mirzoyev, says a polio outbreak has been caused by imported poliovirus.
According to him, the polio outbreak has been reported in the Qubodiyon and Shahritus districts (the southwest part of Tajikistan), in the area bordering Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. He added that it could not be ruled out that importation of poliovirus from Afghanistan, which is one of remaining polio-endemic countries, was the cause of the outbreak.
The Tajik health official notes that 130 cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) have been registered in Tajikistan and seven of those cases have been confirmed as polio. However, the number of polio cases may increase among the APF patients, Mirzoyev said.
Mirzoyev noted that Tajik authorities were taking measures to prevent spread of the disease. “Special ambulance rooms provided with polio vaccine have been established at all international airports and railroad stations and all passengers under age 15 traveling outside the country will be vaccinated against polio,” he stressed.
We will recall that almost four million doses of UNICEF-procured oral polio vaccine (OPV) were delivered to Dushanbe on April 27 for distribution to all health facilities throughout the country for a three-round national immunization campaign against polio. The vaccine was procured by UNICEF with support from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The first round of the National Immunization Days against polio will take place on May 4-8, 2010 and will be followed by another two rounds on May 18-22 and June1-5. Almost 1.1 million children aged 0 to 6 across Tajikistan will receive two drops of the live-saving polio vaccine during each round. Experience in outbreak interventions has shown that quick and repeated vaccination campaigns targeting children are highly effective in stopping outbreaks.
Tajikistan”s last case of clinically confirmed polio occurred in 1997, and the WHO declared the country polio-free in 2002.
