YANGON, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- A five-day anti-polio campaign is underway in Maungtaw and Buthidaung, Myanmar's northern Rakhine state, giving vaccination on children under five against polio, official media reported Tuesday.
The second campaign of carrying out oral polio vaccination (OPV), which targets more than 10,000 children, began on Monday at more than 400 locations simultaneously and will last until Friday to boost immunity of local children.
Health officials said the campaign is introduced as polio, a debilitating virus that causes death or crippling defect in children, was recently detected in Maungtaw.
In addition, the authorities are disseminating information about how to avoid infection and identify polio symptoms.
Myanmar had launched door-to-door OPV for five times in Maungtaw in 2016 following the finding of the disease in 2015.
Myanmar is expected to declare a polio-free country in 2019.
